Lost in a Story
by MercenaryCrime
Summary: Allen and the gang are trapped within a fairytale book... the culprit?... Innocence! Will they be able to get out before they too become apart of the story? FEM Allen and OCs... also contains coarse language
1. 1a Alice and the Rabbit

1.1. Alice and the Rabbit

Something wasn't right as he opened his eyes and gazed around him, he wasn't in the Black Order anymore but some strange forest where it would seem that the trees had eyes of their own.

'Mr. Rabbit, wait up…' a girl was running towards him her long turquoise hair swept across her lower back. She wore a blue dress frilled with white lace and a matching headband in her hair. She looked cute but it was her words that made Lavi blink as he looked around.

'Me?' He pointed at himself as the girl caught up to him and frowned with her hands on her hips.

'Who else has ears like yours?' she tugged at his 'ear'.

'Ow!' Lavi winced as he gripped the velvety softness of the ear. He went blank… what? He ran past the girl to the nearest puddle that littered across the forest path and gazed into his reflection.

His hair was the same, though he seemed to be wearing a straightjacket open with a striped vest. But right on top of his head were a pair of white fluffy ears… rabbit ears.

'How the heck am I a rabbit?' The girl was blinking strangely at him before she jumped.

'Lavi! I'm so glad I'm not losing it,' the girl exclaimed in relief grabbing his gloved hands as if she was sure that he might bolt off.

'L-Lillian?' She smiled and nodded.

'Yep, seems like that accident did more harm than good huh? I woke up thinking my name was 'Alice',' Lillian confirmed as Lavi frowned at her.

_[Flash back]_

Komui was sitting in his office with several exorcists and a young finder waiting for him to speak. He seemed to be wearing a rather smug smile as he drummed his fingers over a book sitting on his strangely clean desk.

'What you see before you is a book found in the attic of a library that is being knocked down,' Komui said as if it was extremely important. The exorcists frowned at him.

'Is there something we should know Komui?' Lillian asked from her standing position on one side of the couch.

'Ya ain't gonna read that to us if that's what ya hinting,' came the mild retort from young exorcist Phoenix Hills, she was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed.

'I agree Komui, it's just some stupid book, now can I go?' Kanda growled clearly annoyed that he had been called to the office and to discover it wasn't for a mission. Allen snickered at him.

'Are you implying that you can't read, Bakanda?'

'Oh shut up Moyashi,' Allen's eye twitched as she heard the nickname.

'The name's Allen, idiot!' Lavi groaned. He was leaning between the two as they began to bicker on the couch before Lenalee quickly intervened.

'Will you two quit it! Brother, please explain why we were called,' Lenalee spoke after she whacked the arguing pair with the clipboard folded on her lap. Komui cleared his throat.

'It has been confirmed that this is indeed innocence, however we are unable to obtain it,'

'So you want us to go inside the book and retrieve it?' Lillian asked

'Exactly,' the exorcists and Lillian groaned, the task seemed to be getting difficult to deal with.

'Honestly Komui, I have better things to do,' Kanda snarled but Phoenix giggled with amusement alight in her ruby eyes.

'How about opening it?' She stood up to go over to the book. Phoenix's reputation for burning anything flammable was quite well known in the Order. So her going over to the book began to make everyone nervous about what she was planning on doing.

'Maybe not Phoenix,' Komui snatched the book from the desk but his actions just infuriated the fiery girl.

'I ain't gonna burn it!' Phoenix pouted as she made a grab for the book and made to rip it from Komui. But unexpectedly, Komui kept his grip on it as the others came over to pry Phoenix's grip off the book.

'It won't… open… to anyone,' Komui struggled to explain to Phoenix through clenched teeth.

The tug of war got violent as Phoenix persisted till a sinister smirk graced her lips and she suddenly let the book go. Komui and the others were not ready for this as the book sailed above their heads, its pages glimmering.

'What?'

A blinding flash came out of the book and caused them to shield their eyes before blackness befallen them.

_[…]_

Lavi shivered.

'So we're characters from one of the stories?' Lillian lamented as she twirled in her short blue dress. Lavi nodded when he too came to that realization.

'Yeah and if I'm the rabbit and you're the 'Alice', then the story we are in is Alice in Wonderland,' Lillian sighed at that and nodded her head slowly as if to agree with him.

'I guess, then it would mean the others are also stuck in one of the stories too,' she added solemnly and she had the right to, who knew what was going to happen to them if they couldn't recover the innocence?

Then Lillian seemed to perk up suddenly.

'You have you're innocence right?'

Lavi patted down the sides of his black pants before feeling the familiar head of his hammer. He then grinned and held it up for her to see.

'Yep, why?' She was pointing to something behind him with wide lilac eyes. Panic clearly stricken across her pale face as Lavi gingerly turned around and saw a mass of figures dressed in black and red charging towards them.

Lavi blinked in confusion but it didn't last long when he saw the sharp pointy spears and swords swinging ahead of them.

'It's the Queen of Hearts' guards!' Lavi cried out, which surprised him self and Lillian that he even knew who they were. But they couldn't dwell on that as the guards were quickly upon them.

'Eek!' Lillian jumped back to avoid a swipe from one of the guards' swords and stood behind Lavi. The guards were quick to surround them and hold them at spear point.

'I wish Yuu was here,' Lavi whined as he held his innocence in a defensive manner. Lillian snickered behind him.

'Shout his name loud enough and he might,' she joked lightly but yelped in pain when one of the guards prodded her with his spear. Lavi acted quickly as he knocked that guard off his feet and Lillian quickly grabbed his spear.

It may be two against six but they still had the element of surprise as Lavi quickly grabbed hold of Lillian.

'Big hammer, little hammer, extend!' they shot up into the sky above the guards, catching them off guard (no pun intended) before Lavi twirled the hammer around and enlarged it. He ground two confused guards with it as Lillian swept past him and knocked the spear of one guard to the side and pinning him against a tree.

Lavi then noticed that she had forgotten about the three other guards present and stepped to her undefended side quickly to knock them back as she retrieved another spear.

'Who the heck are they?' one of the guards stammered as the reminder of them took flight. Lavi and Lillian watched them disappear before looking at each other nervously.

'If they're the Queen of hearts' guards then that would mean they'll tell her about us,' Lillian said nauseously as she gripped the spear tightly in a reassuring way. Lavi teetered along with her as he stared at the guards lying unconscious on the ground.

'Yeah, it only proves that we have to find the others… come on!' Lavi sprinted away quickly before realizing that he had gotten a fair distance from a stunned Lillian. It must be because of his character that he had gotten faster then Lillian.

'Sorry,' Lavi apologized to her as she finally caught up to him panting heavily and glaring at him.

'Warn me next time you decide to bolt,' Lillian huffed as they continued on but at a slower pace. The forest around them was dark and they really had no idea where they were going… well until they heard a cried of pain.

'Watch where you're walking Rabbit!' a voice called out to him as Lavi and Lillian jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. They hadn't seen anyone and were wondering if the guards had come back.

'U-um sorry,' Lavi said nervously trying to step away but only ended up getting shoved in the back for his effort. Lavi grumbled as he rubbed his sore head and glared at Lillian who shook her head defensively.

'That wasn't me,' she said quickly as Lavi gazed around him till his eyes fell on the large towering violet looking over him. Lavi almost shitted himself badly before he bolted behind Lillian in surprise.

'When do flower suddenly grow out of nowhere?!' Lavi cried out as Lillian shrugged but was just as shocked as he was. The violet swayed as if to glare at them with its leafy arms on its improvised hips.

'How dare you trod on my foot, it took me all day to get it lush green,' the flower whined as Lillian and Lavi jumped when other flowers began to unfurl from the undergrowth.

'You really got us in trouble Mr. Rabbit,' Lillian glared at him as Lavi frowned in turn.

'When was I known as Mr. Rabbit, Lillian?' Lillian paused before slapping her forehead in embarrassment.

'Sorry, Lavi,'

'Oi, you too better apologize for trampling uninvited into the garden of us flowers,' the violet spat at them.

'We're sorry, we'll leave now,' Lillian said quickly as she urged Lavi forward and out of the mass of large flowers towering above them.

'My, my, what brings Rabbit here of all places?' A lovely red rose hummed amusingly as Lavi paused.

'Excuse me?'

'Oh yeah, aren't you suppose to go to the Queen's banquet?' a group of daisies chorused to each other as Lavi and Lillian glanced at each other in confusion.

'She'll be mad, she'll be mad,' whispered a bunch of shy yellow daffodils.

'Oh no, I'm late, I'm late!' Lavi panicked as he bolted off leaving Lillian to desperately chase after him.

'Lavi! Lavi…? Mr. Rabbit!' Lavi paused as Lillian finally caught up and slapped him hard across the face.

'Calm down… you're Lavi remember...' Lillian drew in heavy breaths as she held onto Lavi's arm just in case he decided to run off again. His face was drawn pale and stretched with surprise and confusion.

'Lillian? What's going on?'

'I fear that the longer we stay here the more we believe that we are apart of the story,' Lavi's grew as big as saucers, what Lillian said wasn't good news.

'We have to find the others and fast!'

….

**Hey guys I'm back but this time writing a fractured fairytale novel with Lavi, Kanda, Lenalee, Komui, Allen and my OCs Lillian and Phoenix. **

**So far all of them have parts except Kanda… please send me any suggestion, it would greatly be appreciated because I'm at a dilemma with him… and there's femAllen too. **

**Other than that, please enjoy and REVIEW!**


	2. 1b Alice and the Rabbit

**Thanks for the suggestions but I think I needed to make myself clearer… don't worry the fault's mine.**

**Anyway, this contains numerous fairytales so they assume roles from stories of Alice in Wonderland; Wizard of Oz; Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White. **

**But unfortunately I haven't been able to pinpoint Kanda's character and I really need help so please suggest role or story as long as it's a fairytale C:**

….

1.2. Alice and the Rabbit

The forest didn't flatten nor did it gain any walking space with Lavi talking the lead with Lillian trailing behind. They had somehow wondered into a mushroom forest with tiny toadstools and big towering mushrooms.

It was petrifying not knowing they were exactly and this place but they really needed to find the others before this got serious.

'This forest never seems to end,' Lillian observed as they paused and gazed around them. Lavi then noticed the similarity a certain mushroom had to a previous one.

'It looks like we're wondering around in –ir-les,' Lillian stared at him funnily.

'Want to r-p-at that?' she clasped a hand over her mouth not understanding what she had said at all. Lavi laughed aloud at her pronunciation skills.

'-nd I thought I w-s losing it,' he paused then cursed silently. Something strange was going on here as they began to over hear something in the distance.

'What –s that?' Lillian murmured frowning at the strangeness of her words. Lavi wasn't finding this humorous any more and went along the lines of paranoia. He had to whack his brain to remember where the heck they were in this story…

'The c-terpill-r's g-rden!' His response received a frown from Lillian but she slowly nodded with the confusion clouding her lilac eyes. They continued onwards before they feet crunched of crushed stone of an eerie bone white.

'A… c… n… t…' Lavi listened to them carefully and it was no mistaking it, it had to be the caterpillar but where on earth was it in this bloody fungus garden! He and Lillian stopped before he felt tapping on his shoulder.

It would seem like Lillian was trying to get his attention as he turned before seeing the giant caterpillar leaning down from the top of a large toadstool. Lavi jumped in fright into Lillian's arms.

'L-Lavi, you're heavy,' she complained before dropping him onto the stone path hurting his rear badly.

'It's rare to find visitors in this garden,' the caterpillar said lazily as it rolled over onto its presumed back still gaze at the both of them with black pearly eyes. Lavi and Lillian felt a shiver race down their spine as they felt the caterpillar stare as if to see inside of them.

'Lost are we?' Lillian was the first to answer.

'Yes, we're trying to find a way out of here, could you please be of help?' The caterpillar lifted its head up and gazed further ahead along the crush stone path.

'Answer my riddle and we shall see,' Lillian and Lavi glanced nervously at each other but they really had no choice in the matter. They had to find the others before they begin to forget themselves.

When the caterpillar was satisfied that they would comply, it began.

'What goes up, but doesn't come down?' The deep stare of the caterpillar was tension and spine tingling as Lavi quickly turned to Lillian.

'What do you think?'

'Birds go up but they do eventually come down to rest. Then there is water, it evaporates but falls back down as rain,' she sounded frustrated as her brows knitted in frustration.

'That's what I first thought…'

'You're the successor of Bookman, don't you have an inkling of an idea,' the young finder sounded desperate, probably for finding the others. Lavi ran his hand through his wild red locks as he tried to make sense of the riddle that the caterpillar said.

'How about looking at just, 'doesn't come down,'

'All I get is air,'

'The answers smoke!' Lillian gaped at him as the caterpillar stared with those black unblinking eyes. It was contemplating their answer before seemingly taking a deep breath.

'Your exit is clearly marked but be wary that the Queen's guards have just entered here,' the caterpillar turned and crawled up a nearby stalk and out of sight.

'Thank you,' Lillian called after it before Lavi grabbed onto her arm and bolted down the path in the given direction by the caterpillar.

'Mr. I mean… Lavi!' Lillian cried out in surprise as she had difficult trouble keeping up with Lavi's rabbit-like speed. Lavi paused and offered Lillian the choice of a piggyback, which she took gratefully and they hurried away.

'Sorry Lil but we need to get out of here double quick,' Lavi said over his shoulder as they continued on down the path.

….

The paused to take a break somewhere where the light was little and the trees and grass were practically dead. It seemed to remind Lavi of something straight of a horror novel.

'Where are we now?' Lillian said as she wondered around slowly. Lavi was bent over panting heavily from the run where he had to carry Lillian as well. It hadn't been easy but he had managed, luckily she wasn't that heavy to begin with.

'Beats me but I think we gained some lead from the guards,' Lavi said as he took another deep breath and straightened up, looking behind him. That was until rustling caught his attention.

'Lillian?' He turned and saw her looking about her. The weariness in her eyes was easy to spot as she walked over to him.

'I think we're being watched, Lavi,' she said in a low voice as Lavi's fingers grabbed a secure hold onto his hammer.

'It can't be the guards, they're too far behind,' Lavi replied but he didn't put off the fact that he was beginning to feel the exact same feeling that Lillian was. The forest they ended up in was too quiet for his liking and even his rabbit ears could pick up sounds that concluded that they were not alone.

'Just keep on your toes,' Lavi shrugged as he led the way since he was the only one with a weapon currently. Lillian didn't protest to that and followed close behind with a firm hand on his shoulder.

They walked on in silence, trying to see if they could find out who this mysterious stalker was before Lavi paused suddenly causing Lillian to run into him.

'Sorry,'

'Don't be, just listen, there's more than one of them,' Lavi said over his shoulder as she glanced around to see what he was going on about. Then she gasped in his ear.

'Over there! I saw a shadow,' she seemed certain about what she saw so Lavi decided to check it out.

'Stay here,' but he knew she was less likely to go anywhere. He stepped off the path for a slight second before he heard a scream.

'Lillian!' he quickly rushed back just in time to see two shadows make off with Lillian slung over their shadow.

'Damnit…' Lavi hissed as he gave chase.

….

He had been running for a while but he was certain that the kidnappers had gotten a rather good head start despite the burden they were carrying. Lavi knew this wasn't good because this was the worse time to be separated.

They really had to find the others as he slowly wondered through the pitch-black environment, stumbling over whatever got in his way.

'I didn't steal your rattle! Now let me go!' Lavi's ears perked that the familiarity of the voice. It was Lillian as he followed the muffled protest of whoever was speaking with her.

'But we heard it was you who took it,' the voice whined allowed as Lavi slid behind a tree on the edge of a well-lit clearing. Two rounded figures were pouting up at Lillian who was tied from the branch high in the tree.

'Then whoever said it, is lying,' Lillian persisted with a grizzle as Lavi stared dumbfounded by the two people before it hit him.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee… the twins who fought over the lost rattle!

'We~ don't think so,' Lillian sighed in utter irritation probably because she couldn't make the two see any sort of sense. Lavi knew he had to intervene sooner or later.

'How can you trust that the other isn't hiding it from you?' Lavi said making the bumbling twins jump and glared at him.

'What's White Rabbit doing here?' Said one Tweedle-twin.

'He should be heading to the Queen's banquet,' Lavi frowned as he felt the sudden urge to run but he couldn't leave Lillian behind with the two nutcrackers.

'The Queen herself asked for Miss Alice's presence, she is quite a singer in my parts and thought it would be a lovely present for her,' the twin's glanced at each other as if thinking about what he had said to them.

'How do we know you're not lying?' one snarled but Lavi ignored it and said the next thing to come into his head.

'About the rattle… I saw Tweedledum with it the other day…' Tweedledee was quick to react to that as he lunged at his own brother.

'You thieving liar!' But Tweedledum protested as Lavi dashed over to Lillian and helped her down from her bindings.

'Thanks Lavi,'

'No problem, but we better hurry before they realize that I tricked them,' Lavi insisted as they ran away from there as fast as they could.

….

**Well hope you are enjoying this! And please leave any reviews of comments!**

**Thanks!**


	3. 1c Alice and the Rabbit

1.3. Alice and the Rabbit

After escaping from the squabbling twins, Lavi was now convinced that he and Lillian were once against lost. One thing that gave this away was that everything looked the same. There was dark green foliage growing from the twisted brown branches of bizarre looking trees.

Wonderland was seriously something else as was described from his wide reading. But at least he wasn't alone when it came to this; Lillian was walking by his side in silence. Her lilac eyes clouded as her face grimaced as something that was worrying her.

'I'm now convinced that we have to make our way to the Queen of Hearts' Garden, there just has to be some sort of leeway to the next story,' Lavi sighed dramatically as he shook his head at Lillian's hypothesis.

'With what's happened so far, I find that rather believable,' He wanted his words to have some sort of humor but it failed on his half because it was near the truth than what he wanted it to be.

They fell silent after that, Lavi wasn't sure about all this at all because his doubt lay in what this particular innocence was capable of. It possibly drove them all into this book and setting them up with as one of the characters… though Lillian did look good in her outfit and it made Lavi wonder who everyone else were.

'Lavi hurry up or I'll leave you behind,' Lillian called from ahead of him as Lavi came out of his thoughts and jogged to catch up to the young finder.

'Right, let's go!' Lillian raised an eyebrow at Lavi's change of attitude but shrugged it off as they hurried off in one direction, hoping it would lead them to the Queen's Gardens.

However, luck didn't seem to like them at all as they stared dumbfounded at the intersection that they ended up. Lillian sighed while Lavi scratched his head. He was stumped and he was a Bookman for crying out loud!

'Where to now?' Lillian broke the silence with her sarcastic remark as Lavi laughed halfheartedly.

'Who knows?'

'Lost are we?' a voice purred out to them, causing them both to jump. Lavi and Lillian were left to look about them because the voice was the last thing they needed right now.

'Yes, we want to get to the Queen's Garden,' Lillian spoke for the both of them as a ginger tabby cat appeared on the branch before them. It wore the most outrageous grin either of them had seen… maybe if they didn't know a certain maniacal scientist.

But Lavi recognized the character nonetheless as the Cheshire cat.

'Hmm, you could try that way?' Lavi glanced down the path it suggested with its paw and was about to mutter a 'thank you' before the cat rolled onto its back.

'Or maybe was it this way?' Lillian moaned into her hand as Lavi felt this close into whacking it with his innocence.

'Give us a straight answer,' the cat snickered at their impatience and wafted through the air above them and landed on another branch. Its wide grin seemed to mock the both of them.

'Given the circumstances, you might want the short way, which I believe was that way. But then again who is to say that I am not lying?'

'Is he playing with us?' Lavi asked darkly as Lillian patted him on the back.

'Calm down Lavi, anger doesn't get us anywhere,' she gazed down the paths with a wistful look.

'It said _was_, it could possibly be the other path,' Lavi was skeptical about the finder's logic but they were in Wonderland after all. He sighed.

'Thanks for not helping,' Lavi called over to the cat still purring madly in the treetops as he stomped down the opposite path it had suggested. He could hear Lillian quickening her own pace to catch up as they left the cat.

….

They wondered on for what seemed to be hours before they noticed a light shining at the other end of the path. Lillian seemed to brighten up for a moment as they both rushed towards it.

Before they knew it, they were wondering around in a garden full of red roses and neatly trimmed hedges. Lavi watched as Lillian strolled forward and touched the petals of one of the flowers and gasped.

'These roses were painted!' she showed him the red paint that smeared across the tips of her fingers. Lavi was left to grimace.

'This isn't good, we should hurry to this 'leeway' if one exists,' Lillian frowned at his negativity.

'There will be one, there is more that one story in this book,' she scowled him by tugging one of his rabbit ears and Lavi winced in pain.

'You arrived exorcists!' Lavi and Lillian flinched as they realized that the once peaceful garden was now swarming with card-like guards holding spears and short swords.

Before them stood the Queen of Hearts herself, or what was supposed to be the heartless character in the story.

She herself looked slightly abstracts, her face lopsided on one side as if she had had a stroke recently. Her dress was large and ridiculously puffy to match her obese body and her arms and legs shorter than was naturally possible.

Lavi could barely tell that the strange woman was the Queen of Hearts if not for her royal crown of gold and heart shaped rubies on her head. She even carried a matching scepter.

'Lavi, she knew at least one of us was an exorcist,' Lillian snapped him out of his gapping state as he came to realize the same thing.

'Right but I don't think she herself is an akuma,' Lavi brought out his innocence as the card-men began to surround them. Their staggering motions seemed to suggest that they were zombies but the way they held their weapons was a different story.

'Try and stay close Lillian and try to figure out where we can escape to the next story,' Lillian nodded as they Queen twisted her scepter around using her chubby fingers.

'I won't let you move on, you'll be forever trapped in this fairytale nightmare,' She shrieked as the card-men lunged at them. Lavi was quick to react thanks to his animal abilities and got him and Lillian out of there.

He landed them both on the top of one of the hedges out of the card-men's reach before raising his hammer above his head.

'Innocence level two unleash, Hell's fire,' he quickly sent several hundreds of the cards to ash but the Queen seemed unaffected by the number of 'men' she had left to use.

'Foolish Rabbit, no matter how many you burn, they'll keep returning,' The Queen ended her words with a hysterical laughter. Lavi gritted his teeth in frustration before he felt Lillian grab his arm.

'It's the scepter, Lavi! See how protective she is holding it,' Lavi swept his eyes past the card-men and noticed that what Lillian said was true. The Queen was holding that scepter a little too tightly.

'Right, I'll try and draw her attention, just grab that scepter,' Lillian nodded as Lavi jumped upwards above the replenishing numbers of the card-men.

'Big hammer, little hammer, grow…' he brought the enlarged hammer down squashing many of them but that didn't stop them. Some were even climbing up onto his hammer.

Lavi frowned and quickly landed down on the ground and flicked the hammer into the air. Some of the card-men flew up with it and Lavi began to spin it around rapidly knocking many more back. He just prayed that he had given Lillian enough time to get close enough to the Queen.

'Insolent fools! Where's the girl?' The Queen's ranting drew Lavi's attention. Now he knew that Lillian had used his distraction to her advantage. The card-men retreated from surrounding Lavi to surrounding the Queen instead.

'Damnit,' Lavi hissed as he quickly summoned a fire snake to try and reduce the number of guards despite them regenerating once hit. Soon it was becoming almost impossible for him to get a clear shot… almost as if the card-men were adapting his attacks.

But then Lavi saw a flash of blue and hands shot around the scepter. He recognized Lillian instantly and was relieved, though it didn't last long as he because he knew that she wouldn't last long.

He charged through and was surprised that the card-men were not ready for his attack. Maybe, because the Queen was distracted with Lillian, she couldn't control them. Lavi snickered as he quickly imprinted his fire stamp and quickly headed towards Lillian.

Lillian and the Queen struggled against each other's strengths before Lillian leapt off the ground and brought her foot into the side of the Queen's face. With the force of the attack, the Queen let go and Lillian fell back only to get caught by Lavi.

'Yes we got it!' he grinned. The Queen behind them shook her head before bellowing in rage as Lillian and Lavi made off with her scepter.

Suddenly the scepter glowed brightly before they felt themselves being dragged into some sort of vortex.

….

Lillian was quick to regain consciousness first but yelped as a bail of hail whistled past her head at blinding speeds. She was wake on the porch of a house along side Lavi who was just waking up.

'We're in a tornado?' Lavi whimpered as he gazed down to where the ground should be before they were violently tossed when a gust of wind rocked the house. They quickly gripped onto the railing for dear life.

'I thought we were suppose to be in the next story?' Lavi shouted to Lillian over the wind. Lillian glanced down at the scepter that she was still holding onto.

'I think we are!'

….

**A/N**

**Sorry for the late update but I'm glad I got this up and ready… can anyone guess the story that Lillian and Lavi have ended up in?**

**If not then wait for the next update C:**

**Please REVIEW!**


	4. 2a Dorothy's Dilemma

**Onto the next fairytale people! XD**

2.1. Dorothy's dilemma

The house landed heavily on the ground as Lillian and Lavi released their hold and collapsed on the balcony looking very dizzy. Lavi was the first to recover and shook his head before gazing around him.

'Are you still in one piece, Lily?' Lavi groaned as he used the railing to support himself and stood up. Lillian hummed a yes but it didn't seem like it as she remained on the ground with her head in her hands.

Lavi shrugged and began searching the house through the window before wondering over to the door.

'Ah, Lavi I don't think that's a good…'

BANG!

'… Idea,' Lillian winced as Lavi fell back as the door swung open and smacked him in the face. The deck shuddered under his weight as he landed before a girl with two plaits of dark green hair and a red-checkered dress stepped out onto the porch.

'Lavi?' Lillian and Lavi jumped to their feet in surprise as they realized who had just walked through the door.

'Lenalee! Thank god we found you!' Lillian cried out in relief, Lenalee's face also brightened when she saw her friends before frowning.

'What's going on here?' She asked as Lavi scratched his head sheepishly.

'Lillian and I just escaped from our story using the Queen of Hearts' scepter hoping to find you guys,' Lavi said pointing to the scepter Lillian still held onto.

'But that's not important, we have to find the others before they become part of the story,' Lillian chided at Lavi while tugging his ear. Lenalee started to look very worried.

'Don't worry Lenalee, we'll find everyone and will get out of here,' Lavi wrapped his arm around her shoulder just to comfort her.

'LET GO OF MY PRECIOUS LENALEE YOU ANTHROMORPHIC RABBIT!' Lavi jumped in surprised but seemingly not quick enough as something dark and furry collided into his back sending him sprawling on the ground beyond the verandah.

'What the heck?' Lavi winced as he picked himself up and glared at whoever did that only to find that his attacker was a small fox terrier wearing a strange white barrette. Lavi blinked in confusion as he knelt in front of it.

'Did you just speak?'

'Of course I did and lay one finger on my darling sister and you are as good as gone,' the dog yipped angrily as Lavi tried his best to choke back his laughter.

'B-brother?' Lenalee asked as she and Lillian stepped off the porch to join the two on the ground.

'Who else might I be, sweet Lenalee?' Lillian giggled as Lenalee bent down and eyed the little dog suspiciously.

'It sounds like Komui, acts like him and even wears his favorite hat?' Lavi said instead of bursting into laughter.

'Guys, I think I know where we ended up…' Lillian interrupted as they all glanced at her standing a few metres away. She was looking at the yellow brick road that lay at her feet.

'We're in the Land of Oz and Lenalee is Dorothy while Komui is her dog Toto,' at this point Lavi finally burst into a fit of laughter and began rolling over the grass.

'Hahah, who would've… hic… guessed that the siblings ended up in the same story?' Lavi wheezed as Lenalee puffed her cheeks in fury and stomped over to him then kicked him in the guts. Lillian winced slightly at Lavi had the wind knocked out of him.

'Shut up!' Lavi wheezed but complied to Lenalee's demand as he slowly tried to sit up.

'Maybe we should head to Emerald City or something?' Lavi said as Lenalee picked up Komui before frowning at him.

'Why?'

'We need to find an object from this tale to get to the next, as the Queen of Hearts' scepter did,' Lillian said holding the scepter in front of her before shrugging.

'I think we should head to the wicked Witch of the East's castle instead,' Lavi chipped in thoughtfully as the two girls and one dog stared at him. He jumped to his feet and pointed to something behind them.

'Remember what happened when Dorothy first lands in the Land of Oz?'

'What?' Lillian and Lenalee whipped around before staring at the pair of feet sticking out from underneath the house.

'Oh no!'

'Don't fret Lena, they were probably the wicked Witch of the West, it's part of the story anyway,' Lavi tried to calm them but Lenalee was already as white as a sheet.

'But- but…'

'Uh guys we're not alone,' Lillian interrupted as she pointed to small looking people with puffy cheeks and strange green outfits appearing out of the forests.

'They destroy the Witch!' One of the miniature people cried out.

'No we did mean to do it,' Lenalee flailed about as Lillian and Lavi watched dumbfounded by what they were seeing. Lillian was the first to react as she walked up to Lenalee and shook her shoulders violently.

'Calm down, remember that you are Lenalee Lee, younger sister of Komui Lee!' Lillian shouted into the poor girl's face but it seemed to calm her down.

'R-right, thanks Lillian,' Lenalee muttered as Komui pranced about her feet.

'No problem,'

'So if I got this correct, the longer we stay we become part of the story indefinitely,' Komui said, his dark doggy eyes held a wistful look as Lavi nodded.

'Yeah, we began to lose it when we were in the previous story but I don't think it effects us anymore since we're not in it,' Lavi said but was doubtful about his theory.

'Even so, we have to find this object in this story and get to the next,' the Komui-dog jumped up to Lenalee who instinctively caught him, probably because that was her character's habit.

'Komui how many stories are here?' Lillian asked as she nervously gazed at the miniature people surrounding them.

'Hmm, well, we've confirmed two, but we still have to find Phoenix, Allen and Kanda so who knows?'

'Like that helps…' Lavi muttered under his breath before a shadow cast over him. He glanced around to find a rather beautiful looking girl with curly blonde hair and wearing a long pink gown.

'Strike!' But Lavi didn't go far as Lillian whacked him over the head with the Queen's scepter. She even looked glad to have such a thing on her.

'Who are you?' Lenalee asked as she gaped at the beautiful person.

'Esmeralda, the good Witch of the North,' the woman smiled sweetly at them as Lavi rubbed his head painfully.

'You didn't have to hit so hard Lily…' Lillian rolled her eyes as she looked at the good Witch.

'We want to know how to get out of this story,' Lillian spoke straight out as the Witch gave her a funny look.

'Hmm, I'm not sure of what you speak but maybe going to Emerald City might help,' Esmeralda said her smile still planted on her face.

'But isn't that where…?' Lillian brought the scepter down on Lavi again just to shut him up. Lavi sent her a glare but she matched and beat it with her own.

'Where would that be?' Lenalee asked quickly, she was probably worried about the others.

'Simple, just follow the yellow brick road,' the Witch waved her wand down the bricked trail as the three… four of them looked down it curiously.

'Okay we're off,' Lenalee said holding Komui in one arm and pulling Lavi in the other as Lillian followed close behind.

'Oh wait, children…' they all paused at the seriousness in the good Witch's voice.

'Upon the road there are many dangers, especially since the wicked Witch of the East will be looking for her sister's ruby red slippers, which I have given to you,' Esmeralda waved her wand at Lenalee in particular as the girl and her friend's looked down.

The Witch wasn't kidding when she said she had given them to Lenalee because there they were, bright and sparkling on Lenalee's feet. Lillian and Lavi glanced at each sharing the same thought. There was definitely going to be trouble!

'We'll take your warning seriously milady,' Lavi did a curt bow before Lillian grabbed one of his rabbit ears and began to drag him along the path. Lenalee put Komui down and followed close behind, her red shoes chipping across the bricks.

….

**Author's Note: **

**I enjoyed writing this very much, making Komui Toto was amusing to me but besides that I hope you enjoy this as well.**

**Please REVIEW! XD**


	5. 2b Dorothy's Dilemma

**Heads up to the person who corrected me, saying that the original Toto was a Cairn terrier? But it's still a terrier nonetheless besides I could have made it that small Scottish dog breed (whatever name that is can't be bothered looking for it) **

**Though I'm still keeping our little 'Toto' here as a small fluffy fox terrier! XD**

2.2. Dorothy's Dilemma

Lavi sighed as they continued to walk for hours down this yellow-bricked road. It was endless with no Emerald City in sight. But what bothered him more was the forest they had now entered, it was neither friendly nor welcoming and it got everyone on edge.

'We must have taken a wrong turn,' Komui barked as he trotted close to Lenalee. The group hadn't gotten use to Komui's smaller size but he wasn't the only one who had become an animal… Lavi was half one after all.

Lillian paused for a minute and glanced at her feet as the yellow-bricked road still gleaming despite the lack of light in the ever-darkening forest.

'Nope, we're still on the road Esmeralda told us to follow,' Lillian called as she jogged to catch up to the group. Suddenly, Lavi and even Komui stopped.

'Despite being colour blind I have sharper senses it would seem,' Komui was growling now before barking into the shadows.

'Brother don't be so loud you might attract something,' Lenalee said as she picked up her small yet furry brother to try and calm him down. But it would seem that his doggy nature wasn't letting him quiet down. No it just made him a hell of a lot louder.

'Christ even as a dog, he's as loud as ever,' Lavi did his best to cover his over sensitive ears from the sharp rasping bark coming from Komui. But even he couldn't shake the feeling that something was there as well.

'Above us!' Lillian voice cried out suddenly as they glanced up. Within their sights, something large was falling down towards them. Lenalee quickly dove out of the way as well as Lillian and Lavi.

The thing crashed down as they all stared at it bewildered slightly. It had been a rather large boulder that buried into the ground from its impact.

'Where'd that come from?' Lenalee wheezed as Lavi frowned and tapped at it with his hammer.

'Who knows? I see no cliffs in this forest,' Lavi stated as he turned to the others.

'I think it might possibly have been the wicked Witch of the East,' Lillian said grimly as she stood up and dusted the dirty and leaves from her dress. Lenalee just blinked between them, worry filled her purple eyes.

'The more important for us to find the next object and continue to the next story,' she said as they continued onwards in silence. It wasn't easy because the forest itself began to get darker and darker to the point they could only see several metres ahead.

'What the hell's going on here?' Lavi hissed in frustration as he stared ahead.

'I'm positive the innocence has something to do with this. It is in control of this whole storybook anyway!' Lillian exclaimed as they closed the distance to the point they were forced to hold hands with each other.

Well Lavi held onto Lillian while she grasped Lenalee, Komui still was being paranoid about Lenalee holding Lavi's hand after all and threatened to bite Lavi if he even tried to.

'Lavi, I hope you can see the road,' Lillian whispered low enough so that Lenalee could here but Komui would have because of his advance hearing. Lavi didn't respond to that as he kept his gaze on the ground as much as possible to the point he had to judge by the sounds his foot made.

Lillian didn't seem to want an answer anyway. She just made sure that Lenalee and Komui were still behind her or if she couldn't see, she was still holding Lenalee's hand.

Then suddenly the line was viciously pulled to one side and a shock gasp came from Lenalee.

'Lavi behind us!' Lillian winced as she struggled to keep her grip on Lenalee but her grip on Lavi was slipping. Lavi gritted his teeth as he summoned his innocence. He was already bloody annoyed with the darkness; he didn't need something else to make it worse.

'Innocence level two release, Hell's fire!'

The fire stamp illuminated around them catching the culprit pulling at Lenalee and was quickly attacked by fire. The figure burst from the flames and clumsily flew away beyond the treetops.

'What was that?' Lavi asked as he tried to get, as much detail of it as possibly by all he could get was that it had wings and a long thin tail.

'I really couldn't care less Lavi, as long as we can see again,' Lillian fumed. Lavi glanced down at his companions where were all glaring at him for some reason.

'What?'

'Why didn't you think of using your fire stamp in the first place?' Komui barked at him as he jumped out of Lenalee's arms and tried to nip at his ankles. Lavi hopped around in some sort of ridiculous just avoid the small canine.

'It just didn't occur to me, that's all,' Lavi apologized as Lenalee picked Komui up again.

'We should get moving before something else strange occurs,' Lenalee said as they all nodded in agreement and continued on ahead.

….

It wasn't long and much to the relief of the group that they had finally reached the end of the dark forest. Before them lay a meadow filled with brightly coloured flowers and the yellow brick road wove its way towards a distance shimmering green city.

'Finally!' Lavi cried out in relief as the others agreed in a less than loud way. Lillian just laughed as even Komui jumped out of Lenalee's arms and chased after the overjoyed rabbit prancing in front of them.

'Enough mucking around you two, we have to get there and hope we can find whatever we are looking for to find the others,' Lenalee broke in rather stiffly, which brought the others back to realization that they were stuck in an innocence-influenced storybook that could forever trap them within these pages.

'Yes ma'am, let's go,' Lavi said with a comical salute as he marched of ahead of them. Lenalee just picked Komui up as Lillian followed just behind her gazing around them and taking in the scene before her.

Unfortunately they didn't get far before Komui started barking madly again, his small furry head staring up into the sky. Lillian followed his gaze and gasped in panic.

'Guys look at the sky!' was her only reply as Lavi and Lenalee paused and looked up. In the sky was what they presumed was a black dot but instead of staying still it moved. But while it moved clouds were beginning to form visibly clear letters then letters.

'I'll win yet Exorcists…' Lavi read aloud before they settled in a disturbing silence… again with the reference that they were exorcists.

'Damnit,' it would seem like the Wicked witch knows about us too,' Lavi grimaced as the dot disappeared suddenly. Lenalee and Lillian remained silent as Komui squirmed frantically.

'That means we have to hurry and find the next object like you say,' came his raspy little words as everyone glanced at Komui, relieved that at least he had some screw screwed in correctly.

'Brother's right, we have to find the others,' Lenalee nodded as they hurried to Emerald city that looming slowly before them. But then they suddenly they heard the sound of flapping wings and horrid screeches in the sky above them.

They glanced up and saw strange creatures that looked like feathery winged chimps. Lavi whipped out his hammer and knocked away the ones zooming towards him.

'Don't we have any rest?' Lavi growled angrily as he continually swiped at the monkeys while getting over to Lillian and Lenalee.

'Hurry we have to reach the city gates!' Komui barked loud enough to be heard over all the commotion as Lillian and Lenalee caught up to Lavi with some difficulty as the monkeys swooped at their heads.

'I agree, just run!' Lillian piped in as they did just that and bolted with the winged creatures on their heels.

'H-hey, I'm lacking in legs here,' came the sharp protest from Komui as he did his best to scamper behind. Lillian turned quickly despite the protests from Lenalee who insisted she do it but the young finder ignored her.

Lillian proceeded to pick up Komui just as he was about to get grabbed by one of the monkeys. She skidded as she changed her direction and ran to catch up with the others. But not before one of the monkeys dove at her and clasped her forearm tightly, sending her straight into the air.

'Lillian, Brother!' Lenalee was just about to activate her dark boots before Lavi grabbed her and ran at lightning speeds to the city gates. He forced them open, not caring about the gatekeeper's argument… that was until the man saw the monkeys and got inside.

'Why'd you do that, Lavi? I could have rescued her and brother,' Lenalee raged as she grabbed Lavi's collar and shook him violently.

'I'm not leaving them behind either Lenalee, besides we might have to confront the Wicked witch either way since she might have the key to getting out of here!' Lavi shouted back without meaning to as he watched Lenalee's eyes water before the tears fell.

'Ah… come on Lenalee we'll rescue them,' Lavi reassured her with a tight hug.

'We'll rescue them…'

….

**Next chapter will probably be the last part for this story so stay tuned for it XD**

**Please REVIEW!**


	6. 2c Dorothy's Dilemma

2.3. Dorothy's Dilemma

As soon as the gates closed behind them, Lenalee was quick to grab Lavi by the collar and shook him vigorously.

'Why'd you stop me? I could've saved them,' She was shouting in his face as Lavi visibly under her cold gaze. Well she was Komui's sister for nothing as he gripped her wrists and lowered them from his shirt.

'I understand how you feel but I think Lillian did the right thing,' He was just as mad at himself as she was because he could do anything but get away.

'Then…'

'Lenalee! In the story, the wicked witch of the East is after you because of the shoes you possess. Lillian must have been aware of this and went back for Komui to throw the winged monkey's off the real Dorothy!"

Lavi forgot that he was raising his voice at a girl who treasured friendship like no other and greatly regretted doing so. He could feel her stiffen under his hold as he sighed and gave her a wide grin.

'But hey, who said anything about not going to rescue them,' Lenalee seemed to lighten up as she heard this as she changed her depression to one of sheer determination.

'Right!'

'Y-you can't be serious in taking on the wicked Witch are you?' Lavi went rigid as he realized that he and Lenalee were no longer alone as people in emerald get-up began to appear.

Lavi and Lenalee stepped closer to another as the strangers began to surround them. Their voices murmured they fear of the witch they spoke of as they stared and pointed at them with wide wild eyes.

'So what? Our friends are in trouble and we will rescue them,' Lavi spoke aloud as the people continued to whisper to one another.

'Can any of you give us directions?' Lenalee called out to them but the people just teetered away, this just made them furious that these people were cowards.

'T-the Wizard, ask the Great Wizard!' one of the finally spoke as a stout man with a potbelly scrambled out of the crowd and towards them.

'T-this way…' the man quickly ushered them through the crowd as it slowly made way for them towards a giant door. It drove the both of them on the borders of impatience as the man gestured for them to wait at the door.

'We should just go out on our own, I mean, you've read the story can't we use that?' Lenalee asked as she glanced over her shoulder at the people who still hovered nearby. Lavi shook his head in disagreement.

'It doesn't work like that, even Lillian and I had to get advice to arrive at the Queen's Garden,' Lavi grimaced as the man appeared once again and waved them forward.

They were led to a great foyer where an emerald throne rose above them on a high plateau. Positioned on that throne was a man, tall and lean and dressed in a green suit matching his surroundings.

'Hello, I've heard briefly of your predicament… you wish to save your friends, correct?' The man spoke in a cool yet elevated tone as Lavi frowned at the man… he hadn't thought that he'd meet the guy in person.

'Cut us the crap and just tell us the directions to the Witch's castle,' Lavi retorted dryly as Lenalee nodded. The man's cocky smile slipped from his lips as he eyed the both of them, he mustn't have expected such a response.

'Tut-tut getting impatient gets you nowhere but concerning you friends, I'm willing to give you the directions but in exchange for the witch's broom,' Lavi rolled his eyes but it was Lenalee who stepped forward quickly before he could speak.

'Deal!'

The man smirked before jumping up from his throne and wondering over to the side of the plateau and pulling open a velvet curtain. Lavi and Lenalee eyed in suspiciously as he pulled out some sort of parchment and walked over to them.

'Here, the directions are clearly written on the map… all you have to do is follow but remember you part of the deal,' Lavi growled and went to snatched the thing from the man's grasp. Unfortunately the man was quicker and Lavi missed the paper, his fingers just skimming the edge.

'Uh-uh-uh, I get the broom remember,' Lavi was about to protest before a foot landed heavily on the man's head making him sink to the ground, dropping the map in the process.

Lenalee stood beside him, her boots fully invoked and glistening red. Lavi didn't feel any remorse for the guy because he fully deserved what he had coming, especially from Lenalee.

'Let's go Lavi,' Lenalee said as she picked the map up and rushed past him. Lavi just blinked at the man before following close behind.

….

Because of Lavi's expertise with maps and all, he was left with reading the directions that were scribbled onto the map in charcoal black. Lenalee walked silently beside him as they wondered around a rather dead looking place.

The trees were stripped of its leaves and the ground was solid, cracked and littered with debris. Even he was left to wonder if he was following the maps directions correctly.

'How much further Lavi?' Lenalee asked, she must have noticed the scowl on his face as he studied the map for and further information. Lavi glanced up at her and shook his head, faking a wide grin hoping to make her feel better.

'Of course, Lenalee, I'm a Bookman remember,' but even so, this map was really confusing and he couldn't really rely on it 100%. If this thing was right then their destination was just over the next mountain.

Glancing up, he indeed saw a mountain, a rather tall and treacherous looking one in fact that sent chills running up and down his spine. Creepy…

Suddenly he paused as he heard the sounds of flapping coming from the dark sky above their heads. Lenalee blinked at him but didn't seem to doubt his judgment as green light engulfed her legs and her dark boots clad her legs.

Lavi reached for his hammer just in time as a winged monkey swooped at them clasping its disposable thumbs for something to snag. Lavi wasn't going to give it the chance as he enlarged the bulk of his hammer and swiped it away.

It merely halted its course and shot back into the clouds, screeching into the distance.

'Grab hold, Lenalee, we're going to follow it,' he said as he buried the tip of the hammer into the ground and ordered the handle to extend with both he and Lenalee holding on tightly.

Moving through the sky was much more simpler and quicker as Lavi and Lenalee advanced towards the other side of the mountain where a large castle began to come into view.

'There it is Lenalee, the castle belonging to the wicked Witch of the East,' Lavi declared as he had them land in an outcrop not far from a road he spotted from the air. They couldn't exactly get they directly, unless they faced the full brunt of the Witch's power.

Besides, what had Lavi worried the most was that the Witch could possibly be just like the Queen of Hearts. The Queen had known that at least he was an exorcist and then the Witch had etched the word 'exorcists' in the skies above Emerald City.

'Why'd we stop here Lavi?' Lenalee asked as Lavi glanced away from her glare nervously.

'We need to be cautious Lenalee, Lillian and I had a tough time with the Queen back in Wonderland… it'll probably be the same thing,' except it's a witch… Lavi thought grimly as he and Lenalee journeyed closer to the castle on foot, sticking to areas that were well covered from the castle lookouts.

Lenalee didn't seem to protest much after that, as they now gazed at the drawbridge that was up revealing the large gap where the dark water sloshed about sickeningly. Lavi went green as he wondered about what lay just below the surface before he was distracted by the sound of the drawbridge going down.

'Lavi look over there,' Lenalee pointed out the oncoming line of armed guards with long pointy spears and short swords strapped to their waists. They didn't look like a fearful bunch but Lavi wasn't going to test his theory anytime soon. Man did he wish Yuu were here…

Nonetheless, Lavi gazed around till he found something prodding from under the castle wall. It looked like a drain or something as he gestured for Lenalee to follow him.

'I think we can enter in there,' he pointed to the drain he had spotted as Lenalee's face twisted in disgust.

'There has to be another way,'

'Hey, with luck we might enter the dungeons where Komui and Lillian could possibly be held,' it was a convincing argument that even Lavi was skeptical about but they decided it was worth a try.

They quickly moved among the rocks avoiding discovery by the guards patrolling the castle walls and managed to settle themselves just beyond the drain. But Lavi seemed rather doubtful about this.

'Even so, I still think this is too easy,' Lavi muttered to Lenalee but she shook her head stubbornly.

'We have to save brother and Lillian,' Lavi just responded with a sigh as he positioned himself on his hammer to head to the drain. Lenalee shot her hand out to catch his arm before he could even extend.

'Wait, we'll use my dark boots, they're quicker and quieter than your hammer,' Lavi gripped the handle of his innocence tightly before letting it shrink to a small size and put it back in its holster.

'Good idea,' he muttered as Lenalee activated her boots and moved them across the stretch of water. She paused once they were in the drain and they both listened for any signs that the guards had heard them… it didn't seem likely with how quick Lenalee could be.

….

Lavi glanced around the seemingly empty corridor, he could tell something was definitely not right as he gestured to Lenalee that everything was clear. They walked along innocence activated and ready if the Witch herself decided to appear before them.

'Why is this place is quiet? We saw about a hundred guards enter here earlier and there were even those on the wall,' Lenalee whispered as they wondered around the dark stoned corridors. Their footsteps echoed around them only proved the emptiness of the place.

'I fear the Witch already knows we're here,' Lavi grimaced as he spotted a dainty green light shining onto the stone slab floor ahead of them. He and Lenalee glanced at one another, each seeing the anxiety in the other's eyes.

It wasn't long before they entered the large spacious room filled with an evil green light. In the middle, a gapping hole lay with a green substance bubbling like hot lava.

'Lavi, Lenalee!' a voice called to them from the ceiling as the glanced up and saw Lillian staring down at them with fear in her eyes. A dark fuzzy ball was bouncing anxiously around her ankles, which they guessed was Komui. They were trapped in a cage suspended over the green lava.

'Be careful, the witch…' the cage seemed to drop suddenly from under them as Lillian grabbed onto Komui before holding onto the bars. Lavi saw Lenalee going to their aid but stopped her as the cage dangled just centimeters from the lava.

'I'm glad you arrived exorcists,' a cold cackle echoed towards them as the cage was slowly lifted away from the lava and back to the ceiling. Lavi and Lenalee froze as they saw a dark clad figure descending the stairs opposite from them. The tall pointy hat, crooked nose and green sheen to the skin instantly told Lavi that this was indeed the wicked Witch of the East.

….

**Going to stop here dear followers and will continue in the next chapter XD **

**Also I've finally made my mind on what Kanda will be so look for to it…**

**Besides, hoped you enjoyed this and please REVIEW!**


	7. 2d Dorothy's Dilemma

2.4. Dorothy's Dilemma

The Witch descended to stairs eyeing each of them in turn. This situation had become precarious with Lillian and Komui held captive in the cage swinging dangerously above something that could kill them quickly and painfully.

'Let them go!' Lenalee demanded as Lavi gripped her arm before she could move towards the Witch. He couldn't have Lenalee act blindly because it could cost their friends' their lives.

'Wait Lenalee,'

'Yes, listen to you rabbit friend, he seems to be the wisest amongst you,' the witch sneered as she moved around the glowing green pit and towards them.

'Then what is your condition?' Lavi growled but he couldn't help but not trust her, because just like the Queen she had a strange sinister aura about her. This was beyond the capabilities of a witch.

'You can have your friends back as long as I get the ruby red slippers!' Lavi rolled his eyes as Lenalee gazed down at the shoes covering her feet.

'Don't listen to her! She's up to something…' the witch's eyes darted towards Lillian who had spoken and the cage rocked violently on the thick interlaced chain.

'Be silent!' then the horrid woman turned back to them.

'Do we have a deal?' Lavi glanced at Lenalee who seemed torn about this because her brother was dearest to her along side her friends. But they couldn't possibly know what the Witch was thinking if they agreed to her conditions.

'No deal,'

'But Lavi…' came Lenalee's protest as the witch's face contorted as if she had eaten something rotten.

'I will pretend I didn't hear that… do we have a deal?' Lavi pulled his shrunken hammer free and activated it as he stood in front of Lenalee.

'I said no deal!'

The witch tugged her hat down over her darkening eyes while the air around her grew heavy and crackles of electricity snapped about her. Lavi took a quick glance at the cage trying to come up with a plan that would rescue Lillian and Komui if things turned for the worse.

'Wrong answer, White Rabbit!' The witch screeched as she held her hand in front of her and a bolt of blue electricity lashed out from her palm like a striking snake. Lavi turned and pushed himself and Lenalee away from the shocking attack.

'I hope you enjoy watching your friends die!' the witch turned the cage suspended in the air as Lillian and Komui cringed with the iron bars. She twisted her arm around and sent another bolt of lightning the severed the chain.

The cage began its stomach-turning descent towards the green hued lava below. Lavi quickly reacted doing one thing he did best and it involved using his hammer. He swung it and knocked the cage violently away from the pit and sent it clattering along the stone floor.

Lenalee rushed over to the cage and broke open the door letting out a rather dizzy Lillian holding canine-Komui.

'Next time you go knocking stuff with people in them, give them a fucking warning!' Lillian shouted despite feeling disorientated while Komui wriggled free from her arms and jumped into Lenalee's.

'Brother!' Lenalee exclaimed with happiness as she squeezed the little dog a little to tightly. But judging by Komui's dark eyes, he wasn't complaining in fact he seemed to be enjoying it.

The Witch however didn't bat an eyelash as she stared at the group through narrow eyes. No one could clearly tell what the twisted woman was thinking until her hands hovered just around her heart.

Lavi saw a hot flame dance between her palms before it grew larger and even he could feel the heat from across the pit. He steadily held his hammer in front of him as he realized that the witch was up to something.

'Hmph, if I can't have the slippers threw peaceful methods, I must take them from your dead body,' with that she sent the ball of flames across the room causing them all to dive away. Unfortunately there was more where that came from as the witch constant threw them away.

'Don't split up it's what she wants!' Lillian shouted amongst the explosions and clattering debris as she ducked under the staircase to avoid another fireball that the Witch deliberately sent her way.

Nonetheless both Lenalee and Lavi had heard as Lenalee darted towards the battered cage and flipped it into the air with her foot. While it hovered she turned on her foot and slammed her heel into it, sending the cage across the room and right into the Witch who seemed dumbstruck.

'Is she dead?' Lenalee gapped as she went to take a closer look but Lavi stopped her.

'I doubt it,' Lavi said as half-dragged her up the stairs where Lillian and Komui were anxiously waiting.

'Let's just get out of here while she stunned,' Lillian hurried them up as they ran into the hall only to skid to a halt. The place wasn't as empty anymore as they ducked under the bolts shot from crossbows.

'The soldiers are everywhere!' Lenalee exclaimed as Lavi enlarged his hammer and used it as some sort of shield from the projectiles.

'They must have been waiting… damnit we fell into a trap,' Lavi gritted his teeth as he felt the vibrations of the bolts bounce off his hammer. Lillian clipped him across the ear.

'Don't be so negative, there's a path over here,' she jogged down the corridor she spoke of before everyone quickly followed her. It wasn't long before they heard a loud crash and presumed that the Witch had recovered.

'Was the Queen of Hearts this hard?' Lenalee panted as she ran behind Lillian with Lavi at the rear keeping them safe from any pursuing soldiers.

'Nope, this is ridiculous compared to the Queen… at least the Witch is a little more appealing to look at,' Lavi shivered when he remembered the oversized Queen from Wonderland.

'Lavi!' Lillian and Lenalee shouted at him as he winced apologetically.

'Sorry…'

They kept running until they hit a staircase and raced up that till they found out that they were almost on the roof of the castle.

'We need to get out of this castle now!' Lenalee regressed anxiously as they ran across long the tall stonewalls and through a turret. She was clearly leading the way as Lavi fell short and Lillian was even further behind with Komui tottering around her ankles.

'Oi Lenalee we need to rest,' Lavi called to his quick friend as Lenalee stopped and watched as Lillian and Komui arrived looking equally exhausted.

'Can we leave now?'

'I will not allow that,' they froze as the Witch descended from the air above them. How she got there was puzzling them greatly but there was no time for that since the Witch didn't seem to be in a pretty mood. In fact, she sported a well visible purplish bruise bulging promptly out from her left cheek.

Lenalee and Lavi wasted no time getting into defensive positions in front of Lillian and Komui. All while the Witch of the East eyed each of them furiously and the guards quickly blocked all remaining exits to them. It almost reminded Lillian and Lavi of their fight with the Queen of Hearts.

'I will have those slippers even if I have to rip them from your rotting corpse!' The Witch was quick to release an array of lightning as soon as she had said this.

'Innocence level two unleash, wood stamp!' Lavi shouted as he swung his hammer and knocked the path of the lightning away from them and exploding away the nearby pathway. Several soldiers and stone rubble fell into the murky waters of the moat below.

'Waltz misty wind!' Lenalee attacked next when the way was clear and sent a violent tornado towards the Witch. But the woman was unfazed by this and simply swept it aside with a brush of her arm.

Lavi jumped back as a ball of fire was launched in his direction and he landed next to where Komui and Lillian were. He was even about to ask if they were all right when Lillian tugged his ear with irritation.

'Idiot! Don't you have a stamp controlling water or something?' Lavi frowned at her before enlarging the head of his hammer to block the Witch's magic.

'I might have an inkling of an idea but I will need Lenalee's full cooperation,' as if on cue, Lenalee appeared beside them.

'You called?'

'Lenalee, draw the Witch away from the turrets and into a more open area,' Lavi asked quickly as he felt the velocity of the witch's magic surge through his hammer. He wasn't even sure how long he could last as a shield.

'I refuse to have my precious Lenalee be used as bait!' Komui whined, which just made Lenalee hit him across the head to silence him.

'Sure but make sure that you plan works…' Lenalee stood up and activated her innocence once more before lunging towards the Witch. Lavi shifted his grip on his innocence with a wide grin plastered on his face.

'Of course,'

Lillian and Komui watched anxiously as Lenalee led the Witch way from the castle walls while riding her broom. They were both anxious for this to work and also prayed that Lavi was going to succeed in whatever he was thinking of before he stood next to them again.

'Innocence level two unleashed, wood stamp…' the stamps symbol slowly spread across the cobblestone under their feet glowing an eerie green. He then slowly pointed towards the sky; even he was hoping that this would work.

'I want a thunderstorm with the works,' Lillian heard him murmur as the winds picked up and the clouds darkened. Flashes of lightning and the grumbling of thunder soon echoed around them but it wasn't long before the rain fell and it fell in buckets!

The Witch didn't have time to react as she slowly realized that she had fallen for such a simple trap.

'Curse you brats!' She turned briefly away from Lenalee and lunged towards Lavi who stood on the castle wall with a smug look on his face. The Witch came closer and seemed to be about to throw whatever was glowing in her hand but it fell short.

It was only a moment but the group noticed that she was fading and melting away. Lavi just stood there with Lillian and Komui behind him as the Witch landed and tried to stagger towards them. But it was all in vain as she dropped to the ground being nothing but a pile of fabric and a broomstick.

'Is it over?' Lenalee asked as she landed beside them, her dark boots deactivated and in their dormant state around her ankles. Her friends were silent, seemingly unsure whether this had completely done the job or not.

'I think so,' Lavi stepped forward and claimed the witch's broom as transaction for the map that had gotten them here.

'We should do this exchange…'

'But what if the broom is link between this story and the next?' Komui spoke up but Lillian just frowned.

'I don't think so, else it would be too obvious for us… let's just do this exchange, whatever it is,' Lenalee and Lavi just grinned at Lillian as they began heading back to Emerald city.

….

Once they arrived, they were greeted by surprise and awe when they entered the gates. It was evident that the people didn't believe that they would return alive from the Witch's castle alive!

Entering the Wizard's throne room once again, Lavi presented the Witch's broom as promised. The tall man accepted the gift and quickly told them to leave with a flick of his hand.

'Well he wasn't very nice, not even a thank you,' Lillian grizzled as they stood outside the throne room. The friends were baffled and ultimately confused about how they were going to get to the next story.

'Don't know about you but I now understand why dog's hate fleas, they're annoying!' Komui sat at Lenalee's feet scratching the base of his neck. Lillian grimaced at how dog-like Komui was becoming, which worried her more.

'Let's just hope we can get out of here before he forget ourselves,' Lenalee seemed to have the same thought as Lillian as she stared down at her canine-brother. Lavi sprawled out on the green marble surface of the floor, with an ever-creasing frown on his face.

'We must have missed something…' Lavi growled as he sat up only to be knocked back as Lillian jumped to her feet and bowled him over.

'We've had it all along, Lenalee, it's the ruby red slippers!' Lavi and Lenalee gazed at her with wide eyes.

'What?'

'But if so then why haven't we been transported yet?' Komui challenged her as Lillian tapped his wet black nose and glanced up at Lenalee.

'Tap the heels three times, that's how Dorothy got home,' Lenalee seemed skeptical but the group were willing to try just about anything just to find the remaining three friends lost in the story book.

'Right, here goes…' Lenalee did as Lillian instructed while Lavi and Lillian grabbed hold of her right hand and Komui was held in her other. As soon as the third click resounded against the city walls a strange feeling over came them and they were quickly absorbed in blinding light.

….

They finally were realized from the light and into a large meadow of swaying grass. A small brook ran not too far from them and the heavy sent of blossoms hung heavily in the air.

'Where the hell are we now?' Lavi grumbled as he rumbled his head and sat up before sneezing when a head of grass brushed against his nose.

'This is no time to catch a cold Lavi, we need to find the others,' Lenalee groaned as she stood up out of nowhere from the grass with Komui in her arms. Lavi playfully feigned hurt.

'No need,' Lillian was already standing up and pointing to a nearby tree, its thick twisted limbs gave way to lush green leaves. But leaning against the tree stood a figure staring with a scowl.

'Took you idiots long enough,' Lavi never seemed so happy in his life to see that person again.

'Yuu!'

….

**And there you have it folks, the gang has reached the next story and whom do they find…? Honestly I don't even need to say it! XD**

**Anyway hoped you enjoy, yadayadayada and please leave a REVIEW! (Most important bit)**


	8. 3a Samurai Momotaro

3.1. Samurai Momotaro

As soon as the word slipped from Lavi's mouth a sword was held against his throat pressing into his soft skin.

'Do not call me by my first name baka usagi!' 'Yuu' snarled before Lillian came up behind him and whacked him with the Queen's scepter.

'Enough already, we didn't come all this way just to see you murder Lavi, Kanda,' she explained dully to him as Kanda held his sore head glaring daggers at her. Komui squirmed from Lenalee's arms and trotted up to Kanda.

'At least we found Kanda, but do you know what story this is?' Komui glanced up just as a smirk tugged at the corners of Kanda's mouth.

'Suits the idiotic scientist,'

'Yeah kind of thought that too, but who are you, Yuu?' Lavi asked inquisitively but Kanda glanced away seemingly wanting to ignore the smug look Lavi had.

'Don't ask me…' then a fist connected with Lavi and sent him through the grass.

'And if you ever call me by my first name again, I'll definitely turn you into rabbit stew!' Lenalee and Lillian gazed meekly at the scene before them knowing well that it made heaps of sense at the current time.

But judging by the annoyance straining across Lenalee's face told Komui and Lillian that she had just about enough of this nonsense. The Chinese girl stormed forward and gave them a pretty painful kick each.

'Enough the both of you! We still need to find an object from this story to get to the next,' Lavi went quiet quickly while Kanda just silently fumed but did as he was told nonetheless.

'And the more important it is for us to know what the story is, Kanda?' Lillian glared at the samurai dressed in some sort of martial clothes.

'Fine, it's a Japanese folklore named Momotaro…' Kanda spoke sullenly as he gripped the helm of his sword tightly while eyeing the quivering anthropomorphic rabbit. But it wasn't Lavi just to keep his tongue leashed.

'I'm guessing you got the role of Peach Boy,' Lavi was sniggering while Lillian gripped Kanda's arm hoping to halt him in the process of murdering Lavi.

'It doesn't matter Kanda, leave him be, we still need to find Allen and Phoenix,' Lillian tried to convince the fuming samurai with little to no effect. So in the end she tugged the enraged man's ear just to snap him out of his trance.

'Well at least that's a start, but we still need to figure out where to go from here,' Komui spoke up before a loud explosion whipped the winds around them violently.

'What was that?' Lenalee said as she picked Komui's small form off the ground and they all seemed to gaze in the direction of the sound. Lillian was frowning seemingly uneasy about the noise while Lavi took his hammer from its holster.

'Big hammer, little hammer, extend!' Lavi was lifted off the ground and the rest of them watched for any news.

'The town ahead is on fire!'

….

The group rushed hastily towards where Lavi had seen the village ablaze, and ablaze it was. Most of the small houses were already burnt to the ground while those who were uninjured were rushing around trying to distinguish the fires that remained.

'Maybe we should help them…' Lenalee went to do just that before Kanda's hand blocked her way.

'They're still here,' Lavi and Lillian frowned.

'Who?'

Suddenly a shadow appeared above them and they were forced to separate. Lenalee with Komui, Lillian with Lavi and Kanda on his own as he brought his trusty mugen forward and clashed with the large axe.

The muscles on the arms that wielded such a weapon were straining against Kanda's more slim yet well formed build before they broke apart. The attacker stood higher than two average men and was over portioned with thick muscular arms and torso.

A rather horrifying looking green mask with a twisted grin and tusks breathed down on Kanda, who simply observed his opponent like there was no difference at all.

'Yuu, be careful I don't think that's human,' Lavi spoke warily before he noticed something dart past him and seemingly aiming for Lillian who stood behind him. Lillian wheeled back in surprise narrowly avoiding a nasty wound across her chest from a nasty looking spear.

When the perpetrator went to attack again, Lavi made sure that he intervened. He blocked the blow with the handle of his hammer and gazed at his opponent. It was a rather miniature person, their spear clearly three times their size.

The mask was much simpler than Kanda's opponent, with a black and red-stripped design and horns that curled from the top of its head.

Lavi glanced behind where Lillian was observing and looking rather worryingly where Lenalee was.

Lenalee seemed to have an opponent yet until a gust a wind bristled about her. She gasped as something cut across the skin of her arms and legs. It was most likely another opponent as she activated her dark boots and countered the next gust with her waltz misty wind.

A slim figure was blown back from the attack but they recovered quickly and daggers were quick to appear in their hands. It was yet another masked figure but their mask was blue and held a slight seductive charm to the curves and contours of the mask.

'What are these people?' Lenalee spoke as she jumped forward in hopes of landing a blow with her strong legs. But she missed as Komui scampered over to Lillian since she wasn't able to fight as well.

'If I recall this folklore, they would be oni,' Komui shouted before a loud clash like lightning broke his words off. Kanda had summoned his first illusion but the big hulk had batted them away with ease. But blood was already pouring from the deep wounds already inflicted by the samurai.

Lavi had managed to outsmart the midget he fought, it would seem that the mini person lacked any sort of tactical strength given Lavi a slight advantage. It didn't take too long for Lavi to almost predict the midget's next attack.

Lenalee battle speed with speed and overall she was tied with the lithe figure prancing in front of her before they bothered to attack again. She braced herself and brought her leg up and in a high sweep. The blow seemed to meet contact with the masked figure's face and knocked the thing back as it growled in surprise.

Suddenly, the masked figures retreated, speeding off through the trees leaving the gang wondering what was going on.

'At least everyone's okay,' Lillian said calmly as Komui dashed up to Lenalee, his dark eyes filled with worry.

'Did my Lenalee get hurt?' Lenalee just laughed, mostly likely thinking Komui looked cute as a small dog doing this.

'What were they?' Lavi asked as he slung his hammer over his shoulder looking in the direction of the mysterious people's retreat.

'Oni or put in English concept, 'trolls',' Kanda snarled as he sheathed mugen and folded his arms. The others just looked at him wondering if something had happened for him to get that angry.

'Something wrong Yuu?' Lavi said stepping towards Kanda until the point of a sword stopped him in his tracks.

'For starters, STOP using my name,' Lavi paled slightly before retreating behind Lillian who was silently scowling him for his stupidity.

'Besides, those things are just like akuma,' Kanda's gaze flickered to the remains of the oni he was fighting. The others couldn't help but turn green but Lillian was the one to sigh.

'I don't think there were three of them to begin with,' Lillian glanced around as the villagers were slowly surrounding them. Lenalee frowned not fully understanding what the other girl was saying.

'How so?'

'There was another, I saw them hiding out near the trees from over there. It was possibly the leader or something,' Kanda just sneered.

'So there were four of them, I thought I sensed another somewhere but the fucking oaf was in my way,'

'I wonder could the key to the next story be with them?' Everyone turned to glare at Komui dangling from Lenalee's arms. Doubt was definitely present when they considered Komui's theory.

'It is possibly considering what we've been through,' Lavi spoke with Lillian nodding in agreement while her eyes gazed at the scepter in her hands.

'Then why the hell are we doubting it now of all times,' Lenalee seemed slightly furious by the other's hesitation.

'Quit whining, the lot of you and let's just fucking go!' Kanda snapped at them practically storming off in the direction where the oni had retreated. Lillian, Lavi, Komui and Lenalee just shared glances before hurrying after the samurai.

….

**This might be a short one now that I think about it….**

**Oh well, I hope you enjoyed this and please leave a REVIEW! XD**


	9. 3b Samurai Momotaro

3.2. Samurai Momotaro

A short time later they seemed to reach another village, but something seemed terribly off about it.

'Where is everyone?' Lenalee whispered in a low voice while glancing about the empty street. Lillian strolled cautiously ahead and examined a board that seemed to have been smashed away from the wall of a nearby building. When she dropped the board she simply turned to her companions and shook her head.

'Gone…'

'The village seems to have been empty for a while,' Lavi observed. Lillian walked back over to him and raised the Queen's scepter and whacked Lavi across the head for disrupting her. The sound echoed and Kanda just rolled his eyes.

'State the obvious idiots!' Kanda snarled at him as he began wondering over to one of the buildings and examined the room past the beaten doorframe.

'We can't drop our guard, maybe the oni raided this place before the previous town,' Komui spoke before shaking his body to loosen his muscles from being carried too long.

'That is a possibility with all this destruction,' Lenalee exclaimed wistfully before a shadow darted out in front of her causing her to shriek in surprise. The other's whipped their heads towards Lenalee and Komui started barking loudly.

'Aw, Lenalee it was just a cat,' Lillian pointed out as the shadow jumped up some boxes to escape from the canine Komui.

'Komui, stop scaring the poor thing,' Lenalee said as she rushed over to stop Komui. Lillian giggled as she watched as Lenalee tried her best to pull the agitated human-turned dog away from the boxes.

'Shut that mutt up!' Kanda shouted in fury.

'Ah Yuu, I think Komui's just doing what any dog does when it sees a cat,' Lavi spoke but still ended up with a blade pressed against his throat. Lavi cringed and was quick to dart behind Lillian.

'He's so cruel…'

'Well you did ask for it,' Lillian said bluntly.

'Even you're mean!' Lavi wailed aloud as Lenalee finally came back to them with Komui in her arms.

'That was tedious,' Lenalee groaned as Lavi and Lillian laughed while Kanda just scoffed at the whole thing.

'Let's go,' Kanda stated as he turned on his foot and began walking to the other side of the village. They other's looked back at each other and shrugged before following close behind him.

….

Soon the forests thinned out to a land of rusty orange rock. There was nothing there and everything seemed frightfully dead.

'Where are we?' Lillian spoke softly as she shielded her eyes from the glaring sun with her hand. Kanda grumbled something inaudible and no one could be bothered to try and clarify it.

'It looks like some sort of chasm,' Lavi noted as they walked further and the path began to slope down. A brisk wind rushed past them as Lillian shivered and clasped at her bare arms.

'Something's down there waiting for us…' she whispered as Kanda drew his sword and stalked forward, his expression as cold as the wind that blew by. It would seem to the others that he had sensed something as well.

'We have to be careful, it could be the oni,' Komui barked cautiously to Kanda whom was either to far ahead or too stubborn to listen. Lavi just sighed and followed behind the samurai with his hammer firmly in his hand.

Suddenly something whizzed past Lillian and caught her on the arm. Lenalee and Lavi whipped their heads towards Lillian who just held her arm but there was no missing the red seeping through her fingers.

'We're being attack already?' Lavi was by her side in an instant and checking the room as Lenalee scanned the rocky cliff face for any signs of movement.

'There!' She exclaimed before activating her dark boots and leapt to the rocks above. Lenalee spun around and her heel cleaved a large crevice in the rock as something quickly scampered away.

Lavi instantly recognized the blue masked oni that had been in the village. It's slim figure seemed to allow it to easily moved about the cliff face with little to no difficulty.

'Wait Lenalee, I'll help…' but a hand stopped Lavi from moving towards Lenalee as he stared at Lillian.

'She knows what she's doing; we have to hurry and get to Kanda,' Lillian pleaded with Lavi as Komui bounced a few metres ahead.

'But…'

'Lillian has a point Lavi, we still have the midget and the unknown oni,' Komui added quickly as Lillian picked herself up and the two hurried after Komui.

The three soon saw Kanda standing impatiently in front of large cave and his stoic glare was on them when they finally caught up to him.

'Took you idiots long enough,' Kanda grunted as Lillian pouted and whacked him across the head with the Queen's scepter.

'Lenalee's fighting one of the oni alone,' she spoke sternly as he continued to glare at her while rubbing his head. Lavi had to hold back the laughter for now as something darted out of the cave and he had to raise his innocence to avoid it.

A spear tip clashed with the bulk of the hammer and scrapped downwards as the smallest of the oni sneered at him. Lavi shifted his stance holding his hammer in front of him.

'Yuu go ahead and take care of the last one, I got this oni,' Lavi called as Lillian heard Kanda scoff about the stupid rabbit using his first name again and getting him back later.

'Come on,' Kanda said as he bounded into the cave as Lillian followed close behind with Komui.

….

Lenalee flipped back and landed swiftly against the cliff face as daggers were continuously sent her way. The oni quick and deadly accurate with its throws as Lenalee ducked behind a rock just avoid another shower of blades.

It was hard to get close but Lenalee had to think quick and she leapt out of her hiding place. She whizzed about the chasm with the oni not so far behind as Lenalee kicked away the next batch of daggers.

Suddenly Lenalee dropped towards the ground at frightening speeds. The blue masked oni followed, its weapon out and ready for another assault. Lenalee glanced up and smiled to herself as she landed on the ground, the rock around her creating a large crater.

She launched herself back into the air just as the oni was about to throw its daggers and slammed her foot right into its gut. The oni spiraled into the nearby cliff face and Lenalee twisted around.

'Waltz Misty Wind!' She summoned the strong gust of wind with several kicks of her legs and buried the oni further into the cliff. Large hunks of rock showering down as the part of the cliff gave way and created an avalanche.

Lenalee landed back onto the path and stared down at the rocky pile below, hoping that the oni was truly gone before rushing ahead hoping to catch up with the others.

….

Spear and hammer clashed again, the collision was strong enough to knock Lavi back. The midget had gotten better over the short period of time since their last battle. Lavi could feel it with each blow they exchanged.

The midget keep on jittering as if finding something amusing while Lavi just gripped the handle of his hammer tighter. He took a hasty step back as the smallest of the oni leapt forward and held the tip of the spear in front of it. If Lavi didn't know any better, the midget was aiming for his heart.

Lavi knocked the tip away and went to try and land a blow on his opponent but the midget wasn't going to fall easily. It merely dug the spear's blade into the ground and the whole thing went vertically straight. So now it was standing almost twice as high as Lavi, which was beginning to get annoying.

He jumped back again as the midget came at him once more wielding the spear with sharp precision. Lavi blocked again but had to surprisingly duck as the spear almost beheaded him.

Lavi stumbled back and fell onto the ground again as he swept his red bangs out of his eyes before standing up. The midget was hopping about with its spear ready for another attack.

Lavi stared at it before raising his hammer above his head.

'Innocence level two unleashed, Hell's Fire!' Lavi stamped his hammer down and the flames began flickering out of the stone hard rock. Soon enough the large flame snake rose and the midget was soon engulfed and flung into the cliff face.

Lavi could hear its screams but it was soon halted at the rocks tumbled down and buried whatever was left of it. He sighed in relief and slung the hammer over his shoulder.

'Lavi!' Lavi turned to the sound of his name and was happy to see Lenalee running towards him.

'Lenalee, didn't you get the blue masked oni?' Lenalee nodded and glanced at the pile of rocks standing meters away.

'Did you get another?'

'Yep, but we better hurry to the others,' Lavi said as they ran into the cave where Kanda, Lillian and Komui went.

….

It had gotten quiet ever since Kanda, Lillian and Komui had entered the cave. Though gaining some source of light had been rather easy with a lit torch lying on the cave floor.

Besides that, it was surprisingly damp and had a heavy musky scent that made Lillian gag and Komui sneeze. Kanda didn't say or show any sign that it was bothering him as they continued to go deeper into the cave.

'We should be getting close,' Komui said as he sneezed again, Lillian only mildly agreeing with him with a slight nod of her head. Kanda smirked in amusement as they stepped into a rather large and well-lit cavern.

The walls were decked in treasures of gold, silver and semi-precious gems. All seemed to glitter in the presents of the flickering flames of several pits of fire. A deep-throated chuckle drew their attention from the treasures and onto the figure lazily sitting in a chair across the cavern.

'It's quite rare to get visitors of your sorts?' The voice was deep and slightly echoed off the cavern walls.

'That must be the leader…' Lillian murmured softly as she stayed where she stood with Komui as Kanda slowly moved forward. The oni stood up as well, the orange light of the flames catching the gold and black markings on its mask. Long straight horns adorned the top of the mask as it drew a rather large sword from beside the chair.

'Nothing more than business and you're in my way,' Kanda sneered as he drew mugen from its sheath and took up a fighting stance. The oni laughed aloud but complied nonetheless as it rushed forward with the force of a cannon.

Swords clashed and sparks flew as the two were blown back from the blow. Both were unharmed now but Lillian knew well than to judge a book by its cover, literally!

Kanda made the next move as he lunged forward and made several consecutive strikes at the Leader. The oni however blocked all the blows effortlessly with the flat of its blade before knocking Kanda backwards.

Kanda flew back into the wall but seemed barely fazed by it as he pulled himself from the rocks that almost buried him alive.

'Be careful Kanda!' Lillian called to him.

'I know already!' Kanda growled back making Lillian frown in anguish from having been slightly offended by Kanda's words.

The Leader barreled forward and Kanda ducked under the wide sweeping blow and made several small cuts to the oni's legs. The Leader hissed in pain as knocking Kanda back again who used his katana to block most of the blow.

The oni stumbled for a bit as Kanda took the opening by performing several more slashes jumped back. Unfortunately the Leader managed to grab Kanda's leg and swung him into the ground before lifting up its sword to finish him off.

Lillian rushed forward then quickly knocked the sword to the side as it came down. Then before the oni could react she landed a strong kick straight into the Leader's face. Its mask was knocked off its face and clattered onto the nearby pile of treasure.

'How dare you!' the Leader roared as Lillian froze when she caught a glimpse of the oni's true face. It was flat and void of any normal features found on a human face. The Leader, boiling with rage, lunged at Lillian but Kanda quickly intervened and sliced the head from the oni's body.

The body flailed around before falling back while the head rolled into a pit of fire and began smoldering. Kanda briefly took the sight in before turning to Lillian.

'Why'd the fuck did you intervene?' Lillian opened her mouth to reply when a voice interrupted her.

'Yuu? Lillian? Komui? Are you guys alright?' Kanda's grip on mugen made his knuckles go white as the blade went straight to the throat of the idiot who uttered his first name.

'Yeah we're fine,' Lillian answered instead almost mentally thanking Lavi for his intrusion. Lenalee looked at the beheaded body before she smiled and picked up her canine brother.

Lillian walked past Lavi and Kanda, not even bothering to break the two up and picked up the Leader's mask.

'I think this is what we're looking for,' Lillian spoke as the others looked at her.

'Why's that?' Komui asked as he cocked his furry head to one side.

'It came off easily than the other oni,' Lillian answered before walking back over to Kanda and handing it to him.

'Might as well try…' was his grumbled response as the others placed their hands on the mask and instantly a blinding white light enveloped them.

….

They were spontaneously flung across what seemed to be a dirt road when they came out of the light. The road seemed to be in the middle of a forest as Kanda was the first to recover and stood up.

'Where are we now baka usagi?' Lavi groaned but looked about him either way wondering the exact same thing.

'No idea,' was his dull response as Lillian wondered onto the road and glanced both ways.

'How many stories have a castle in them?' she called to them as they came over and stared at the towering structure peaking over the trees. Lenalee seemed to think as well as Lavi.

'Countless, I suppose,' Lavi said but he wasn't so sure what the problem was.

'Then which one are we in?' Kanda growled.

'How about we ask?' Lenalee spoke as they all began to hear the sound of hoof beats rapidly approaching them.

….

**Yay! I'm done this chapter… I knew this part was going to be the shortest but oh well on to the next part now!**

**Please REVIEW! XD**


	10. 4a The White Princess

4.1. The White Princess

'Horse?' Lillian murmured in disbelief as she looked at the forest surrounding her. Lavi followed her gaze but still remained focus on the dirt road underneath their feet. With his ears, he could pick up the sound clearer than the others and slowly confirmed that there were possibly four horses.

'There's a few of them,' Komui barked in confirmation but his small body gave away his uncertainty. Kanda responded by placing his hand on the hilt of his katana. His eyes were narrowing in on the direction of the sound.

It didn't take long before a hooded figure broke through the coverage of the tall trees, their pace was frantic and they hurried blindly towards the group. Then several mounted horses were cantering on the figure's heels.

The figure was doing a good job keeping ahead of a horse but they suddenly tripped with their hood falling off and revealing snow-white locks.

'It's Allen!' Lenalee reacted quickly by activating her innocence and propelling herself forward. She was by the girl's side in seconds and wrapped her hands around her waist and hoisted them both into the air.

Lavi reacted next as the riders confusedly glanced above their heads probably wondering why the girls were in the sky.

'Big hammer, little hammer extend!' Lavi's hammer stretched out and pinned itself between two trees, at the exact same height as the riders. One rider was lucky enough to glance back in front of him while his fellows were knocked off their horses. He pulled back the reins for the horse to reverse but Lillian was by his side in a jiffy and quickly mounted the animal.

She used the Queen's scepter to lock around the rider's neck and slowly suffocate him. His hands flew towards her to try and pry her off in his panic but she was smaller than he was and out of his reach.

Kanda dealt quickly with the riders that had fallen off their horses and Lenalee descended to the ground assuming everything was safe. They gathered around, with the exception for Kanda whom watched over the single surviving rider that Lillian stopped.

'Allen, are you alright?' Lenalee asked as she pawed over the girl standing in front of her. Allen just stared at her with an annoyed look on her face.

'Of course not! Try waking up to someone holding a dagger above your chest!' Lenalee was taken back by her friend's words as Lavi just placed an arm around the white head.

'At least you're safe, I think that counts,' Lavi exclaimed cheerfully only to receive a hard bonk on the head by Lillian.

'You stupid rabbit, we're suppose to be asking about what story we are in,' Lillian growled holding the scepter in a threatening manner. Komui trotted up to them and gazed up with a small cough to catch their attention.

'What exactly happened, Allen?' Komui barked as Allen blinked down at his doggy form and a small smile twitched the corner of her mouth.

'That is Komui right?'

'Yes now answer my question,' Komui snapped impatiently probably getting fed up with people taking their time registering his appearance.

'I woke up in that castle over there and at first I was confused but it didn't last long because some person in black tried to take my heart out…' Allen shivered and her face paled further to a sickening white. Lenalee wrapped her arms around Allen to comfort her friend but seemed just as disturbed.

Lavi didn't say anything but studied the long cloak that hugged around Allen's slender frame. Her hair hung loose just above her shoulder and a small silver tiara adorned her head. He also caught a glimpse of the pale blue dress underneath the cloak.

'Allen seems to be a princess and she was almost lost her heart… sounds like the plot in Snow White, you know with the jealous Queen?' Lavi added with slight concern but Lillian moaned aloud.

'Not another Queen, one was enough trouble,' Lillian was probably remembering about their fight against the Queen of Hearts.

'But that isn't the real problem… we need to find the object that'll get us to the next story and to Phoenix,' Lavi reminded them as Allen glanced at them, wondering what they were getting at.

'Of course it is baka usagi, the Queen didn't fucking give up until Snow White was killed,' Kanda snapped causing Lavi to flinch under the murderous aura. Allen just paled further as the information sank in.

'I know that, we just need to hurry before that happens is all,' Lavi meekly said as his rabbit ears drooped and he stared at his feet.

'Listen, Lenalee and I will head to the castle and see what we can find while you guys stay here and watch Allen. If it is true, then the Queen will no doubt try something else,' Lillian seemed to be explaining a plan to them but they were just staring at her with doubtful glances.

'I don't know Lil, maybe Yuu and I should go instead,' Lavi said but froze when he felt the tip of mugen pushing against the back of his neck. Lillian frowned at Kanda and knocked the katana away with the scepter.

'If anything bad happens, Lenalee can get away quickly with one person using her dark boots, anymore questions?' Lillian growled as Lavi just shook his head not wanting to anger the finder further. The others didn't have much to complain either so Lillian and Lenalee headed off towards the castle.

….

After separating, Lillian and Lenalee followed the road to the castle. The closer they got the larger the fortress seemed to be.

The walls were thick slabs of rock many meters above the ground with guards sanctioned on the walkways. The gates were barred by a large iron grate, which was mostly pulled up by a lifting mechanism.

But despite the menacing looks of the guards, the girls had managed to get into the town surrounding the castle without too much suspicion… yet.

Lillian gazed about her trying to memorize the layout of the winding streets.

It wasn't much different to any other town Lillian had visited, there were people going about their business buying or selling items at the variety of stalls and opened shops.

'What are we looking for Lillian?' Lenalee asked as they paused and pretended to browse at a shop full of rugs and tapestries. Lillian tilted her head to the side.

'I was hoping it would come to me but frankly, I haven't a clue,' Lenalee frowned at her before they moved on becoming wary as they spotted several royal guards rounding the corner.

'You're saying this is pointless,'

'No, we need to understand our situation better before blindly charging into smoke,' Lillian snapped but sealed her lips quickly when the guards slowly passed by. Lenalee didn't say anything either as they continued to browse around or listened to the talk amongst the people.

But they still couldn't find or understand what the key would look like in this story. Lillian searched her brain desperate for answers that wouldn't come any time soon. By the time they decided to head back to the others, it was already getting dark.

Lenalee sighed beside her as they made their way to the town entrance only to find that it had been locked.

'Is there a curfew?' Lenalee gazed up at the gate in hope of being able to scale it but the number of guards assigned on the wall discouraged her.

'We can't get out without someone seeing us,' Lenalee muttered as Lillian nodded and gazed around her.

'We really need to keep a low profile and look for a place to stay,' Lillian agreed as they began to retrace their steps in the opposite direction of the gate. But Lillian caught sight of something slinking around the shadows of the buildings.

'Lenalee!' Lillian hissed in urgency as she pulled the Chinese girl behind her and tried her best to follow this suspicious figure. It led them to the other side of town and towards part of the wall where there happened to be a blind spot.

'What's going on…?' Lillian slapped her hand over Lenalee's mouth as they stopped at the corner just as the figure turned around. Lenalee glared at her but the young Finder didn't say anything as she checked the figure again.

The figure pulled down is hood revealing the head of an attractive looking woman with straight dark hair pulled off her face by an elaborate crown of gold. Lenalee and Lillian froze to the spot. There was no mistaking it… this was the Queen trying to kill Allen whom was Snow White!

The Queen lifted her hand out of her cloak and a small black vortex began to swirl above her palm. Lillian strained her ear and could here the incomprehensible chanting of a spell. Soon something solid appeared in her hand and it looked to be a snake of some sort.

'Find the princess and kill her,' Lillian had to once again cover Lenalee's mouth as the girl began to protest.

'Don't blow our cover or we cannot help them,' she whispered into Lenalee's ear but the sounds of feet interrupted them. Lenalee and Lillian tried to move but were quickly surrounded by guards.

'How…?'

'You do know it's rude to eavesdrop on others,' the guards moved out of the way as the Queen came forward. Lillian and Lenalee stiffened in fear.

….

Lavi, Kanda, Komui and Allen moved off and away from the road shortly after Lenalee and Lillian left. They had found a small cave facing away from the dirt track. Lavi then lit a fire for them and blocked the entrance with Allen's cloak despite the white-haired girl putting up some protest for this.

She wasn't exactly comfortable with what she was wearing and when Lavi said otherwise, she just called him a pervert. This amused Kanda and it could be seen by the smirk creeping up onto his lips.

'Come on Allen, you actually look good in that dress,' Lavi pleaded as Allen glared at him while her innocence danced about her. Her claw threatened to slice the rabbit into ribbons.

'Lavi please leave Allen alone, she's already been through enough today,' Komui turned his head towards the bickering two as he sat beside the fire to warm his small body. Allen sighed and stopped her activation by closing her fist hand into a fist.

It revealed her off-the-shoulder dress as she sat down beside the fire and Komui trotted up to her and sat next to her.

'Thank you,' Allen muttered under her breath as she gazed at the crackling fire. Lavi stood off towards the entrance though he still wore his playful grin on his face he seemed to have settled down.

'I hope Lillian knows what she's doing,' Lavi commented to break the silence as he peeked through the cloak.

'If she doesn't then she's fucked,' Kanda snorted as he meditated across from Allen and Komui.

'That isn't a nice thing to say Bakanda…' Allen eyed the samurai dangerously. She didn't like Kanda being so rude about their friends whom were doing this on her behalf.

'Did you say something Moyashi?'

'My name's Allen, idiot and get your ears checked!'

'Che, they work perfectly find Moyashi,' Allen growled out her frustration and snapped her head so she couldn't see Kanda anymore. Kanda seemed more than happy to be left alone finally. Or that's what Komui and Lavi thought anyway when the silence fell between the two.

'So…? I wonder if Lillian is right and the Queen might strike again,'

'Do. Not. Start. Baka usagi!' Kanda snarled as his hand instinctively reached for mugen lying beside him. Allen just slumped against the cave wall and closed her eyes.

'What? I was just saying that we need to be watchful,' Lavi persuaded as Kanda proceeded to pull his katana from its sheath.

'We'll deal with it when it happens now shut up!' Komui seemed to sigh at the tension rising from the two male exorcists and stared at Allen. The girl's eyes were closed and her breathing had relaxed… she was probably sleeping now.

'Hold it you two and let's rest up until Lenalee and Lillian return,' Komui spoke loud enough for the two boys to hear but low enough so that he didn't disturb Allen. Kanda silently 'che' and Lavi ruffled his red hair as he resumed his post by the cave entrance.

The night grew late and there was still no sign of Lenalee and Lillian's return. It slightly worried Lavi whom sat near the entrance. Allen was fast asleep against the wall with canine-Komui curled up in her lap as the fire slowly died down to embers.

Kanda seemed to be asleep but Lavi wasn't going to try anything useless he wasn't, which could be either…

Lavi was beginning to nod off as well but he tried to stay awake. What if the Queen tried to make a move now? Allen could defend her self, there was no questioning that but even sleep could render the fierce of warriors vulnerable.

His eyes slowly drooped again and Lavi shook his head to wake himself up but his body was slowly slouching against the wall. No, he couldn't… he… Lavi's chin touched his chest as he finally succumbed to sleep.

Unbeknown to them, something slithered from under the cloak hanging in front of the cave. It paused and lifted its triangular head to gaze at the occupants in the room. It had been waiting for a while for the rabbit to fall asleep and now was its chance.

Surveying the room again and with satisfaction continued to move towards its target nestled against the wall. The small figure was easy to see in the darkness because they stood out with the whiteness of their skin and hair.

It moved forward slowly and cautiously getting closer and closer…

….

**And cut! Hi everyone hope you enjoy this chapter XD**

**Just a question for you all but… I've been thinking about the 14****th**** and should I add him to the story? **

**If you think so then he already has a role within this story so let me hear about your opinions in you REVIEWS! (If not then it's okay)**


	11. 4b The White Princess

**Thank you for your reviews and it has been decided that the 14****th**** will appear XD so enjoy!**

….

4.2. The White Princess

Komui's ear instinctively twitched, as he seemed to pick up the faintest sound. Though being a dog had is advantages, one of those weren't a peaceful nights sleep. He could sense that something else was here.

It wasn't only he, Kanda, Lavi and Allen but an intruder! Trying not to think too much of it, Komui listened out with his sensitive canine hearing. It was picking up sounds moving stealthy on the cave floor, slowly heading towards him and Allen.

The intruder went rigid as if it suspected that someone was no longer sleeping. Not taking any chances, Komui stood up on all fours and barked as loud as he could as his eyes fell on that of a snake.

'The fuck?' Kanda growled as Lavi and Allen also began to wake up from Komui's loud bark. The samurai went to snap at Komui before noticing the snake wheeling back its head ready to strike. His hand shot to the katana at his side and he swung the blade towards the snake just as it lunged forward with such speeds.

Allen scrambled back clutching canine-Komui close to her chest as she finally saw the snake. Well a headless one at that as the head hit the cave wall with a soft thud. The body withered on the ground for a bit before stilling indefinitely.

'Well at least, Komui's doggy senses was useful,' Lavi said slowly as he poked the body with a stick he had found lying on the cave floor. Kanda sheathed his sword and stepped outside.

'This probably was the Queen's doing,' Komui yipped as he jumped from Allen's arms and nudged the snake's lithe body with his forepaw.

'Why did it have to be me?' Allen whimpered as she hung her head in misery. Lavi patted her shoulder with a comforting smile on his face.

'That's just how the story goes moyashi-chan,' Lavi's comment was met with a black fist to the face as Allen punched him with her left arm.

'My name is Allen!' Allen growled as Komui took a hasty step back, not wanting to get involved in this. Kanda walked back in there and sniggered as he saw Lavi nursing a bloody nose.

'I think you broke my nose Allen,'

'It'll be your jaw if you keep calling me moyashi, that goes for you too, Bakanda,' Allen chided as Kanda snorted in what seemed to be amusement.

'Moyashi's still a moyashi to me,' Allen's mood darkens further.

'Hey guys, before this gets any more personal… could we like get away from here?' Lavi broke in just as Kanda drew his sword and Allen activated her innocence. The two gave him a death stare before coming to terms with the situation.

'Lavi's got a point, the Queen knows we are here and it would be best to move,' Komui pointed out though he sounded concerned.

'What about Lillian and Lenalee?' Allen said as Komui shuffled on his paws nervously.

'They can bloody take care of themselves,' Kanda said as Allen retrieved her cloak and wrapped it over her shoulder. Kanda began walking out of the cave.

'No Kanda she's right, what would happen if one of us finds the key to the next story?' Komui pointed out thoughtfully stopping Kanda in his tracks. They could all hear the samurai grumbling incoherent curses and looking as if he'd murder someone.

'Fine! But we're not going anywhere near that fucking castle, the bitch might want that,' Kanda snarled quite harshly.

'We can't do that Bakanda, what if something has happened to Lillian and Lenalee?'

….

The blasted woman was pacing again, going back and forth. For all he knew, her plans hadn't gone well and that was good for him. That meant Allen was okay, for now until the Queen thought of another deceitful plan to have the young exorcist killed.

He sighed, doing nothing but observing was boring the hell out of him. The Queen glared at him or in particular, the large mirror in which he resided. He was nothing more then a reflection in a mirror… how frustrating.

'Mirror, mirror on the wall whom is fairest of them all,' he growled at the stupid question that he had answered only moments ago. So he refused to answer her for the time being and just watched for her expression to change from vain to furious in a matter of moments.

He decided that he shouldn't anger her further; after all, he was at the mercy of a particularly dangerous innocence. It did a good job separating him from his host and suppressing most of his power as well. So he had to appear but as a shadowy entity with white eyes and the wide grinning smile.

'_**You may ask all you like, but fairest is Snow White**_,' he muttered arrogantly and enjoyed watching the Queen's face slowly turn red and watched her finally storm out of the room.

'_**Thank god, I thought she'd never leave**_,' he mentally thought as he took a step back inside the white gloom of the mirror and wondered off. Being a mere ghostly reflection had a few benefits, one being able to move from one reflective object to another.

Where he was going… now that was an interesting question as he moved about. The innocence might have restricted his form and power but that didn't mean he couldn't interfere. Then there was the interesting piece of information he had acquired by eavesdropping on a pair of guards.

Two girls, one an exorcist, were taken to the Queen's 'trophy' room.

Now that was something he could tamper with as he finally reached the room and stared out of the reflective surface of an unkempt mirror. Many just like it covered the walls of this room.

He gazed around at the statues standing around randomly till his eyes fell on the two newest ones yet to collect any dust. Two girls just like the guards had said, but his eyes narrowed.

It was going to be a little difficult getting them out of their frozen state. Oh well, it was worth a try, all he had to do was to cancel out the power of the innocence and they _should_ be free.

….

Something seemed off as Lillian slowly came too. Firstly, her eyes didn't seem the work at all and secondly… her body was strangely fixed in place. Before she had anytime to understand anything, whatever was holding her in place vanished and she fell to the ground with a solid thud.

Lillian coughed as a cloud of dust rose from the ground and tickled her nose causing her to sneeze as well. As she tried to get up something heavy fell on top of her.

'Oof!' Lillian felt her cheek being pressed against the cold stone floor before she flicked her head to the other side and saw dark green and checkered red fabric.

'Lenalee get off me!' Lillian complained as Lenalee gasped in surprised and hurriedly sat up beside the finder.

'I'm sorry Lillian, it felt like I was suddenly dropped,' Lenalee apologized as Lillian shook her head so that her friend could forget it. She gazed around the room and taking note on the number of statues scattered through the large space.

Cobwebs hung from the corners, a dusty chandelier and several rather poorly maintained mirrors. Other than that, Lillian still had no idea how or why they were in the room.

'Where are we?' Lenalee asked as she too observed her surroundings. Lillian shrugged her shoulders. The Queen and her guards catching them was the last thing she remembered.

'I really wish I knew Lenalee,' Lillian huffed in frustration, as a deep chuckle seemed to emanate around them. They froze and were instantly pressing their backs against each other. It was easy to tell that they were no longer alone in the large and rather isolated room.

'Who's there?' Lenalee called out but the mirth continued on as Lillian frowned at one of the mirrors. There was a large dark smug spread across it that hadn't been there before.

'Show yourself!'

'_**I was never hiding**_,' a male voice called out to them as Lillian kept her eyes fixed on the dark smug. She could have sworn that it had moved! She walked over to it despite the protest of Lenalee and picked up a dusty sheet from the ground.

She began to rub away the dust and grime from the surface of the mirror. But as she pulled away she was met with a shadowed face with white eyes and a wide grinning smile.

Startled Lillian dropped the cloth with a yelp and jumped back. The laughter was heard but this time both Lenalee and Lillian had a better idea of who was laughing.

'_**Whoops, I forgot I was like this…**_' a white gloved hand tugged at the shadow face and they both watched as it was pulled away like some type of mask. Behind it was a human face… a young man to be precise with dark curly hair and dove grey eyes.

'Who are you?' Lillian braved to ask as the man snickered.

'_**I'm the man in the mirror, Neah,**_'

'So you work for the Queen?' Lenalee asked quite cautiously as the man, Neah frowned at them.

'_**Hell no, you try standing there and listening to that **_**woman **_**prattle on about who's fairest! It really isn't worth my time**_,' Neah retorted as he spat the word 'woman' quite harshly. Lillian and Lenalee winced as they felt his malicious aura even if he seemed like a mere reflection.

'Then why did you help us?' Lillian questioned further as the dark aura faded and was replaced with concern.

'_**The Queen is plotting her next plight against Allen…**_' the man glanced at something behind him.

'What is she planning?'

'_**Shit… I can't stay long, but you have to get out of here… all I know is that there is a hidden exit out of this room**_,' Neah faded from their sight as Lillian and Lenalee began to panic.

'Wait! What do you mean by hidden exit? Please don't leave us with something like that,' Lenalee shouted but the man was no longer there having disappeared in the swirling grey of the mirror. Lillian tapped her foot as she began to mull over Neah's last words.

'Well we're fucked aren't we?' Lillian grumbled wistfully.

'… Hang on, did he just say Allen?' Lenalee broke in as Lillian glared at her for interrupting her thinking. But then again, the green-haired girl had made a valid point.

'He probably met with Allen before she left the castle,' Lillian suggested but Lenalee frowned.

'No, Allen said she was attacked as soon as she woke up, I doubt there was any time to see Neah,' Lenalee persisted as Lillian scratched her head in confusion. The finder then shook her head angrily.

'Can't we think about it once we get out?'

….

Allen, Kanda, Lavi and Komui trekked around the forest trying to cover as much distance between them and the cave. They had to keep ahead if they were going to protect Allen from a self-obsessed Queen.

'Can we stop now? I'm hungry and tired and we've been walking for hours,' Allen complained as she slumped down onto her knees in the leaf litter. Lavi and Komui stopped and turned to help her but Kanda just gloated.

'Stupid moyashi and her bottomless-pit-of-a-stomach!' He grunted as Allen threw him an icy glare that did little to deter the samurai from thinking otherwise.

'She has a point Yuu, we need to find a safe place for camp and look for food,' Lavi said but winced as Kanda's hand wrapped around mugen and proceeded to draw his katana.

'Enough you two, we are still waiting for Lenalee and Lillian to return,' Komui yipped urgently as Kanda was about to swing his sword. Lavi reacted by activating his hammer and blocking the blow.

'Please Yuu?'

'Stop using my fucking first name baka usagi!' Lavi went quiet as Kanda sheathed his sword after tripping Lavi onto his backside.

'Fine,'

Allen sighed with relief as they continued up further where they came across a small pool of water connected to a waterfall. The foliage around the area was slightly denser than the other part so it could prove better coverage for a small fire.

Lavi dashed over to the waters edge and eyed the water.

'There's fish in here!' He shouted cheerfully but his expression dropped when Kanda persisted that Lavi was doing the fishing. When Lavi began teasing Kanda of being afraid of water, the samurai grabbed the rabbit and threw him into the pool with a loud splash.

Allen and Komui gazed up from the small fire that began to crackle to life and snickered.

'You're so mean Yuu…' Lavi whimpered but was focused to duck when Kanda hurled a rather large stone at him.

'Shut up baka usagi!'

Allen shook her head as she stood up and brushed some leaves from her coat.

'I'll go an fetch more firewood,' she suggested as she began to wonder into the forest.

'Just don't get fucking lost baka moyashi,'

'It's Allen, Bakanda!' Allen shouted over her shoulder as Komui trotted up beside her and they left together. They walked only a small way as Allen gathered sticks and branches under her arm to take back.

Komui did his best to help but a man-turned-canine could only get so much with four paws and one mouth. But it was only until they had gathered enough wood had the two of them realized something.

'Where's the campsite?' Allen muttered as she stood up and gazed around at the thick undergrowth. Komui unfortunately couldn't answer that because his small size didn't allow him to see anything but leaves.

'Maybe I should put this nose to use, I mean a dog's sense of smell is far better than a human,' Allen looked down at him, her expression showed her skepticism but she nodded anyway.

'Okay try that,' Allen said as Komui put his nose to the ground and began moving throw the foliage. He was trying to retract their steps by following their scent but it seemed like they had been traveling in circles for some part of their trek.

'I'm sorry Allen but I think I made it worse…' Komui lifted his head when he got no response from the white girl only to realize she was no longer behind him.

'This is bad,' Komui exclaimed in panic as he began howling as loud as he could to get Kanda and Lavi's attention, wherever they were.

….

Allen stumbled through the undergrowth following what she had thought was Komui. But to her embarrassment, it turned out to be a raccoon. She groaned aloud as she began to think of how angry the others would be of her. Her lack of direction always showed at the worst of times… now being one of them.

Suddenly her stomach growled and it only caused her blush to deepen as she clutched at her abdomen.

'I'm so hungry…' she whimpered. Then she heard sudden movements behind her and whipped around only to find a kindly old woman moving through the undergrowth. A black cloak covered her small bent figure.

'Oh my, what is a young thing like you doing in this forest?' the old woman cracked in as much surprise as Allen.

'I got separated from my friends,' Allen replied as the woman smiled warmly to her until Allen's stomach once again made it known that she was hungry. The old woman chuckled.

'Hungry aren't we?'

'I'm sorry, my friends and I were about to eat but we needed firewood…' Allen began to explain but the old woman raised her hand.

'There's no need to explain something when it is so obvious,' the woman said as she pulled out a small basket from her coat and pulled out a bright red apple.

'It might not be much but here,' Allen gazed at the apple and shook her head.

'I couldn't take that, it's your food,'

'But I insist, it's been a while since I've had such a pleasant chat with someone,' Allen reached her hand out reluctantly but took the apple at the old woman's persistence.

'Thank you,'

….

**Dun, Dun DUUNNNN! **

**Got this chapter finally done XD I hoped you enjoyed it and please leave a REVIEW!**


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